A city is continuously evolving and its buildings are a perfect proof of that. When going into the historic part of Linares, visitors will have the opportunity to contemplate magnificent noble palaces and religious temples.
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One of the most notable consequences in the city, from the urban and patrimonial point of view of the mining golden age, was the industrial architecture. Few streets lack today the presence of this style. Walking through any of its streets is like looking at a showcase dominated by façades dated from the 19th century. The red brick, the glazed tiles and the wrought iron are a perfect combination of some of the most emblematic buildings of Linares.
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Ask for your audio guide at El Pósito tourist office and enjoy this route from an original point of view and accompanied by Andrés Segovia or the Marquis of Linares, José de Murga.
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Plaza del Ayuntamiento, S/N Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
The City Hall is located in this neoclassic building erected during the 19th century. It possesses a square floor plan and it has a spectacular central courtyard. In its façade, we can admire its portico and its clock which plays one of Andrés Segovia’s melodies every hour.
Santiago, 1 Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
The building was erected in the 18th century and it used to be a factory where ammunition and money were manufactured. During the Peninsular War, it supplied the guerrilla with ammunition hidden in wooden pieces. In its façade we can observe three access doors with dressed vestments. The two doors of the sides have depressed arches and the central one has a semicircular arch. In the upper part of the façade, we find a balustrade decorated with pinnacles and on top of it Carlos III’s coat of arms. Above it we find St Bárbara’s mosaic, the patron saint of the miners, below a triangular pediment.
Iglesia, 5 Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
El Pósito has a long history. Its origin dates from 1754-1757 when it was built as a granary when Linares was still a borough. It was transformed into a prison under the jurisdiction of a local court several years later –ceasing its activity in 1967. In 1975 the building was restored as a psychopedagogical school until the end of 2008. During 2009 and 2010 the building was again restored –being this historic building one in which new technologies are found together with the history, culture and tradition of Linares.
Carretera de Jabalquinto Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
It was built by Mr Alonso Sánchez Carvajal in 1475 over another previous castle, probably from the Muslim period, which had already collapsed. Its construction was not authorised by the Catholic Monarchs, who some time before had banned the construction of fortresses in order to avoid aristocratic fights. Thus, the construction was suspended before the castle was finished. The walls describe a square floor plan, with a three-floored vaulted tower on the southwest side. The façade has an austere Isabelline style and above the depressed arch of the door, there is the coat of arms of the owners of the castle. Beside the main façade, on the left part, a square tower remains, perhaps from the original castle. This place is the typical residence castle that used to represent the power that some lords of this area reached on that time.
CONJUNTO ARQUEOLÓGICO DE CÁSTULO. CTRA. JV–3004 Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
![Logo for 01. Archaeological Site of Cástulo]( "Logo for 01. Archaeological Site of Cástulo")
Description
The city of Cástulo is our archaeological treasure par excellence. This Iberian-Roman city, located 5 km away from Linares, was during the Roman era one of the ten most important cities of the Iberian Peninsula, thanks to its silver and lead mines.
Not only its mining but also its agricultural strategic location provoked the Iberian city of Cástulo to be the capital of Oretania, and thus, the cause of conflicts between Romans and Carthaginians. In order to gain control over the main mining fields of the district, the Carthaginian general Hannibal married the Iberian princess Himilce. Once the Carthaginian enemy was defeated, the Romans magnified the city through all types of privileges, such as the minting of its own coin. The richness of Cástulo was such that chronicles such as Strabo, Polybius, Pliny the Elder or Livy mentioned it in all their writings.
From the 3rd century on, Cástulo experienced an important decline which continued during the Middle Ages until its final disappearance as city in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Cástulo is now considered a cultural enclave by the Department of Culture of the Andalusian Regional Government. Nowadays, the Archaeological Site of Cástulo can be visited as well as the latest discoveries found in the city, such as the Mosaico de los Amores, catalogued by National Geographic as one of the ten best discoveries in the century. Thus, the most representative and remarkable remains of the old city can be contemplated in the Archaeological Museum of Linares.
06. St María La Mayor’s Church (13th and 14th centuries)
Iglesia, s/n Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
This church is considered the most valuable construction of the city of Linares, having been declared as Historic-Artistic Monument in 1974. The church was built during the 13th and 14th centuries over an old mosque. The construction was made in gothic style to be later reconverted by the prestigious Renaissance architect Andrés de Vandelvira. The octagonal tower dates from the 17th century as well as the south door –St Pedro’s door. In this one, you can observe four columns as well as a semicircular arch above which there is the saint’s sculpture. The door which faces the City Hall contains a pointed arch flanked by two frames with pinnacles, among which we find a niche with an image of the Virgin.
07. St Francisco’s Church (16th century)
Plaza de San Francisco, s/n Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
It dates from the 16th century, when the Franciscans settled down in Linares. The convent whose cloister is today the central courtyard of the Post Office building is attached to the church. The temple was extended during the 17th and 18th centuries, with the addition of the bell tower in 1927.
Its interior contains one main rectangular nave, built in the 17th century, with lateral chapels and a semicircular cupola. It has false arches and windows, decorated with passages of St Francisco’s life. A depressed arch sustains the chorus. Four chapels with oval vaults over pendentives were added between 1720 and 1730 and afterwards, an extra one. The spectacular altarpiece of the Andalusian baroque (17th century) stands out.
The main façade, work of Eufrasio López de Rojas, is baroque and it has a semicircular arch with a decorated keystone and flanked by two Doric columns over which there is a broken pediment decorated with triglyphs and metopas. Above it, there is a small niche with a semicircular arch which hosts a stone sculpture of St Francisco. On top of it, there are several arched spaces and a wrought-iron cross.
Plaza Don Bosco, 1 Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
It is a building with a basilica floor plan erected in the 20th century in honour of the patron saint of our city. It is one of the most representative examples of our contemporary architecture. Inside, we can find works by Ávalos, Francisco Baños, Estellés, Juan Bautista Palacios, Víctor de los Ríos and Hernández de León. It preserves a relic of St Juan Bosco and an altarpiece that comes from the Hermitage of the Virgin of Linarejos.
San Pedro s/n Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
This church dates from the 20th century. Both the architectural and decorative designs were the work of the painter from Linares Francisco Baños. It has a rectangular floor plan and the works by Carulla, Navas Parejo and Víctor de los Ríos can be found indoors. In its simple construction resides its beauty. It possesses a great ethnological value as its name comes from the miners’ patron saint: St Bárbara.
José María López Montes, 7 Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
This church from the 20th century has a marked Western Andalusian character (yellow over white). The name is closely related to the job of the maderista (timberman), so necessary to prop up the mining galleries with logs. The church is of special ethological interest as it is located in a working-class neighbourhood dated from the 19th century (Cantarranas).
11. Buen Pastor’s Church (“Los Picos”)
Paseo Virgen de Linarejos s/n Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
It was built in 1975 and it is the most original and attractive church in the city due to its volume, its arrises and its construction. It contains four individual naves plus the one which host the main door with rhomboid forms and, at the same time, folded up by their minor axis. It is built in brick and iron. It has a bell tower with a Cross.
12. Virgin of Linarejos’ Sanctuary (façade from the 16th century)
End of Paseo Virgen de Linarejos Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
This temple has its origin in the appearance, the 5th August, 1227, of the Virgin of Linarejos to a shepherd in that same place. The building that is today found is the result of the transformation of the old hermitage. Its interior is decorated with paintings by Francisco Carrulla and Francisco Baños.
13. Madrid Railway Station (early-20th century)
Paseo Virgen de Linarejos, s/n Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
There were in Linares, at the late-19th and the early-20thcentury, three railway companies of broadband connections: MZA (Madrid, Zaragoza and Alicante), Andaluces and Sur de España; and a fourth one of narrow track (La Carolina y Prolongaciones). Linarejos station, known as Linares-Paseo de Linarejos or as “Madrid Railway Station”, was built by the MZA Company and it is still preserved as in its golden age.
Trains came to this enclave between 1877 and 1879. The current splendorous building was erected in 1925 by Mr Narciso Clavería. The Madrid Railway Station combines a neomudéjar style with the modernism of the era. The horizontal form of the building simulates an inverted coach, with four circular elements (two at the front and two at the back) simulating the wheels of a railway vehicle. It is built in brick of two tones in horizontal lines. In a one-floor adjacent building, on the right, there was the canteen, where passengers could calm the fatigue of the journey.
There are two other buildings of great interest: one of the biggest loading zones of the station, which has become the Mining Interpretation Centre, and other smaller with similar aesthetics, which one time was the lavatory and which is today the City Council’s Consumer Office.
14. Almería Railway Station
Úbeda s/n Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
St José’s Railway Station in Linares –Almería Railway Station– is, together with Madrid-Zaragoza-Alicante (M.Z.A.), one of the most remarkable elements of the railway heritage in Linares. After years of urban extension, Almería Railway Station has become part of the city core. This railway station was erected to create a railway route which would be born in our city, and thus it was the beginning of the route Linares-Almería.
15. St Margarita’s Bullring (19th century)
Santa Margarita's Gardens, s/n Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
Although it was built in 1866, it was inaugurated a year later with a Miura’s bullfight. Perhaps the most well-known event in this arena is the death of the matador Manolete in August, 1947, gored by the bull Islero. Beside the cuadrillas’ door, there is a ceramic and marble badge in memory of that fateful afternoon in St Agustín Fair.
16. Constitution Square and Fountain
Plaza de la Constitución, s/n Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
It is located just at the beginning of Linarejos Esplanade. It is a circular fountain with several flows of water. In the centre, we can find a white marble pedestal and over it, the monument in honour of the Constitution. A statue of a woman represents the Constitution of 1978 and has in her hands a dove which flies off as a symbol of peace.
17. Old Brach Office of the Spanish Bank of Credit (20th century)
Corredera de San Marcos s/n Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
This financial institution opened a branch office in Linares in 1910. It was right after its foundation in Madrid and that is why it was named the Second Branch Office in Spain. At the beginning, it was located between St Marcos and Calatrava Streets, until 1928 when it was decided to start the construction of a new building of three floors, which is today preserved.
Corredera de San Marcos, 40 Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
This branch office was inaugurated the 12th of March of 1892, from which it is still preserved the original revolving door from the entrance. The old courtyard of officers was habilitated as a library in 1986. It is currently the Local Library as well as the Office of the Cultural Centre.
19. Old St Juan de Dios’ Hospital (18th century)
Cánovas del Castillo, 49 Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
This building was declared Historic Monument in 1962. This construction has had several functions throughout its history, being currently the Justice Palace. Its exuberant and symmetric baroque façade stands out. Over the main door, we can find a niche with a sculpture of St John of God. The rest of the decoration is based on geometric elements, plants as well as on small sculptures of naked children.
20. Dávalos Biedma Palace (17th century)
General Echagüe, 2 Linares Jaén 23700 Españahome
Description
This building hosts the Archaeological Museum of Linares. The most remarkable part of the façade is on the corner. Above the main door, a semicircular arch is found together with a Castilian turret.
