The City of La Dama de Baza: History in the Streets

From an Iberian queen's tomb to a 13th-century hammam — a walking guide to historic Baza.

Replica of La Dama de Baza at the Municipal Archaeological Museum
La Dama de Baza, Museo Arqueológico
View over the rooftops of Baza toward the Sierra
Baza, seen from the old town

At 844 metres above sea level, Baza is the largest town in the Altiplano and the natural base for exploring it — but it’s also a genuine destination in its own right, with over two thousand years of Iberian, Roman and Arab history layered into its streets.

La Dama de Baza

The city’s most famous treasure is La Dama de Baza, a masterpiece of Iberian art from the 4th century B.C. Carved as a seated woman on a winged throne, richly dressed and bejewelled, the limestone sculpture doubled as a funerary urn — a hollow chamber beneath the seat held the cremated remains of a woman in her twenties or thirties. It was discovered on 21 July 1971 in the Cerro del Santuario necropolis, alongside Phoenician amphorae left as ritual offerings. The original now lives in Madrid’s National Archaeological Museum, but a faithful replica — pictured above — is on permanent display at Baza’s own Museo Arqueológico, and the city celebrates the anniversary of her discovery every 20 July.

Baños Árabes de la Marzuela

Tucked into the old Santiago district, Baza’s Arab Baths date to the Almohad period in the 13th century, making them among the best-preserved medieval hammams in Spain. Barrel-vaulted ceilings are pierced with six-pointed star skylights, some still fitted with coloured glass, lighting the sequence of cold, tepid and hot rooms where bathers would once have been massaged and perfumed. They fell out of use by the 16th century and spent decades as a cellar and animal store before restoration in the 1970s brought them back to life.

The Alcazaba

Above the old town, the Alcazaba fortress was built in three phases — 11th–12th century, Nasrid, and finally 16th-century Christian — and was considered one of the most formidable strongholds in the kingdom. A 1531 earthquake did much of the damage that reduced it to the walls and tower remnants that survive today, but the climb is worth it for panoramic views over the Hoya de Baza valley.

Palacio de los Enríquez

Commissioned in 1506 by relatives of the Catholic Monarchs, the Palacio de los Enríquez is, remarkably, the only Andalusian example of a Renaissance pleasure palace modelled on the grand villas of Italy — built around rear gardens and a large pond, with Mudéjar coffered ceilings inside.

All of this is within easy walking distance of Pisos Baza, right in the centre of town — you could see the Dama, the baths, the Alcazaba and the palace in a single unhurried morning.

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