Baza is a town in the province of

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

(southern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

), twice a former Catholic bishopric and now a Latin Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

as Basti.

Modern town

It has 21,000 inhabitants (2003). It is situated at 844 m above sea level, in the Hoya de Baza, a valley of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

, not far from the Gallego River. This town gives its name to the Sierra de Baza. The dome-shaped mountain of Jabalcón overlooks the town from the north-west. The Municipality lies at the southern edge of the Altiplano de Granada.

History

The sculpture of the Lady of Baza is a prehistoric artifact discovered in this area on 22 July 1971. The city was founded by the Iberians in the 4th century BC and named Basti, the name by which it was known in Roman times. As part of the Roman province of

Tarraco Tarraco is the ancient name of the current city of Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain). It was the oldest Roman settlement on the Iberian Peninsula. It became the capital of Hispania Tarraconensis following the latter's creation during the Roman Empire ...

, it was an important commercial center and an early bishopric (see below). Under the

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

, Baza was an important frontier post along the border with the kingdom of

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

. It was also a major commercial center, with a population upward of 50,000, making it one of the three most important cities in the Kingdom of Granada. Under

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic rule (713 – 1489), the cathedral, founded by the

Visigoth The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

king Reccared in about 600, and whose traditional site is occupied by the ancient church of San Máximo, was converted into a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

and the bishopric was doomed. In the 11th century, a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community was present in Baza. A Jewish ritual bath, or

mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...

, was excavated where the old judería existed. In 1489, during the

Granada War The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It ended with the defeat o ...

, the city fell to Queen

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...

, after a stubborn defense lasting seven months. The cannons still adorn the Alameda. On 10 August 1810, French forces under Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult defeated a large Spanish force near the town.

Ecclesiastical history

The bishopric of Basti was in existence by 306, the date of the Council of Elvira, which was attended by its bishop Eutychianus. The names of other bishops of Basti also are known through their participation in various

Councils of Toledo From the 5th century to the 7th century AD, about thirty synods, variously counted, were held at Toledo (''Concilia toletana'') in what would come to be part of Spain. The earliest, directed against Priscillianism, assembled in 400. The "thir ...

. The cathedral was founded by the

king Reccared in about 600; its traditional site is occupied by the ancient church of San Máximo. The diocese survived for some time the Moorish conquest but was suppressed in the 8th century, perhaps with errant bishops, while under

ic rule (713 – 1489), the cathedral was converted into a

and the bishopric disappeared in the 13th century, but was restored in 1306. After the

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

, the territories of the two historical sees of Basti and Ancient Acci were united on 21 May 1492 as the modern Diocese of Guadix, a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of the Archdiocese of Granada. A

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

, the Colegiata de Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Encarnación, Baza, was established at Basti/Baza. This was reluctant to accept rule from Guadix. As a compromise, the collegiate church was given authority, under the bishop, over twelve parishes, and the bishopric adopted a second name, diocese of Guadix-Baza, indicating a union of two dioceses under a single bishop. This continued until 1851, when the collegiate church became a simple parish church and the diocese resumed the name of Diocese of Guadix. Bazaiglesias

The former cathedral of Our Lady of the Incarnation, however, rebuilt on the rubble of the mosque which the original had been converted into, retains the status of

co-cathedral A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...

of the Diocese of Guadix-Baza (suffragan of Granada).

Episcopal ordinaries

;''Pre-Moorish Bishops of Baza'' * Saint Bishop Tesifón (? – ?) * Eutiquiano (? – ?) * Teodoro (589? – ?) * Eterio I? (? – ?) * Eusebio (633? – 638?) * Siervo de Dios (653? – 655?) * Eterio II? (675? – ?) * Antoniano (681? – 684?) * Basilio (688? – 693?) ;''Bishops of refounded Baza'' :(incomplete) * Beltrán de Boyria (1484? – ?)

Titular see

No longer a residential bishopric, Basti (alias Baza) is listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a Latin

titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of the Archdiocese of Toledo, nominally restored in 1969 as

Titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of Basti (Curiate Italian) / Basticen(sis) (Latin adjective). It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : * Martien Antoon Jansen (1970.01.02 – resigned 1970.11.29) * Sándor Klempa, O. Praem. (1972.02.08 – death 1985.12.19) * Mario Lezana Vaca (1986.05.17 – resigned 1998.03.07) * Jesús García Burillo (1998.06.19 – 2003.01.09) * Antonio Marino (2003.04.11 – 2011.04.06) * David William Antonio (2011.06.15 – 2018.11.14) * Joseba Segura Etxezarraga (2019-02.12 – 2021.05.11) * Benedek Szabolcs Fekete (since 2022.03.11)

Transport

Until 1985, Baza was served by a railway station on the ''Ferrocarril del Almanzora'', which linked Murcia del Carmen to

via Lorca, Baza and

Guadix Guadix (, ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in southern Spain, in the Granada (province), province of Granada. The city lies at an altitude of 913 metres, in the centre of the Hoya of Guadix, a high plain at the northern footh ...

. Reopening this line has been proposed. The northern branch of the A-92 highway also passes next to the town.

Cultural references

The 1489 siege of Baza is described in

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

's book ''The Conquest of Granada''.

Notable people

* David Valero, Spanish cyclist

References

Sources and external links

*
Baza Information
- General Information about house sales in Baza

Bibliography

* * * * {{authority control Populated places established in the 4th century BC Municipalities in the Province of Granada