Photo Post: The Medieval-Renaissance Village of Sabiote, Spain
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| Sabiote Castle |
Just a short 10km from the southern Spanish city of Úbeda, the village of Sabiote offers a lot despite its small size. You might be surprised to find a Renaissance-era castle and well-preserved set of medieval walls in this passed-over corner of Spain, but it’s no wonder; after all, the province of Jaén is the region with the greatest number of castles in Europe!
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| Sabiote Castle |
I would have never even given Sabiote the time of day had it not been the hometown of my bilingual coordinator, Pedro. One afternoon after school, he took me and a group of teachers out for lunch to his pueblo and afterwards led us on a tour of town in which we got to explore the inside of the recently restored castle. Standing upon the fortress’s battlements at sunset, I really enjoyed getting to survey the whole countryside, which was covered, of course, in gridded, green olive groves.
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| Church of San Pedro silhouetted at sunset |
While training for the Camino de Santiago, I would later come back to the city—this time on foot with one of my fellow Americans-in-Úbeda, Ashley. It was only a two-hour-long hike, but when we arrived, we were greeted by a medieval festival in which we saw locals dressed up in jaunty costumes, ate cheap, delicious food in open-air restaurants, and watched reenactment-style horses racing around the town.
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| Streets of Sabiote |
Sabiote may be yet another quiet Spanish village, but it’s hardly a pueblo del culo del mundo (“village at the butt-end of the world). Rather, Sabiote is a true pueblo con encanto—a “village with enchantment.”
What’s your favorite Spanish village? Do you like to make excursions to smaller towns while passing from big city to another? Talk about it in the comments below!
