Baza is a town in the province of Granada in

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

(southern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

), 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 archbis ...

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, not far from the Gallego River. This town gives its name to the

Sierra de Baza Sierra de Baza is a mountain range near the city of Baza in the Granada province in Spain. It is named after the town of Baza and its highest point is the 2,269 m high Calar de Santa Bárbara. It is located between the Sierra Nevada and the Si ...

. The dome-shaped mountain of

Jabalcón Jabalcón or Cerro Jabalcón is a mountain near the city of Baza in the Granada province in Spain. It reaches a height of 1,494 metres above sea level. At the foot of Javalon are the ''Baños de Zújar'' (baths of Zújar). They maintain a tempe ...

overlooks the town from the north-west. The Municipality lies at the southern edge of the

Altiplano de Granada The Altiplano de Granada (Granada High Plains) is a spectrum of landscapes located in the northern part of the Granada province in southern Spain. Administratively it is made up of two municipal territories: Baza and Huéscar. Topography The al ...

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 The Iberians ( la, Hibērī, from el, Ἴβηρες, ''Iberes'') were an ancient people settled in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC. They are described in Greek and Roman sources (amo ...

in the 4th century BC and named Basti, the name by which it was known in

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

. As part of the Roman province of Tarraco, it was an important commercial center and an early bishopric (see below). Under the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

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

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

. 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 ) , common_languages = Official language:Classical ArabicOther languages: Andalusi Arabic, Mozarabic, Berber, Ladino , capital = Granada , religion = Majority religion:Sunni IslamMinority religions:Roman ...

. Under Islamic rule (713 – 1489), the cathedral, founded by the

Visigoth The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kn ...

king

Reccared Reccared I (or Recared; la, Flavius Reccaredus; es, Flavio Recaredo; 559 – December 601; reigned 586–601) was Visigothic King of Hispania and Septimania. His reign marked a climactic shift in history, with the king's renunciation of Arianis ...

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

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

and the bishopric was doomed. In 1489, during the

Granada War The Granada War ( es, Guerra de Granada) was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1491 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 e ...

, the city fell to Queen Isabella I of Castile, 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 Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and often called Marshal Soult. Soult was one of only six officers in Fren ...

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 The Synod of Elvira ( la, Concilium Eliberritanum, es, Concilio de Elvira) was an ecclesiastical synod held at Elvira in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica, now Granada in southern Spain.. Its date has not been exactly determined but is belie ...

, 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 "th ...

. The cathedral was founded by the

king

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 Islamic 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 ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

, the territories of the two historical sees of Basti and Ancient

Acci Acci ( grc, Ἄκκι) was an ancient inland city of Hispania Tarraconensis, on the borders of Baetica. Under the Ancient Rome, Romans, and with the Jus Latinum, it was a colony with the full name of Colonia Julia Gemella Accitana. Its coins are n ...

were united on 21 May 1492 as the modern Diocese of Guadix, a suffragan of the

Archdiocese of Granada The archdiocese of Granada ( la, archidioecesis Granatensis) is an ecclesiastical province of the Catholic Church in Spain.

. 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, which may be presided over by ...

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

Episcopal ordinaries

(all Roman Rite) ;''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 largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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 ...

, suffragan of the

Archdiocese of Toledo This is a list of Bishops and Archbishops of Toledo ( la, Archidioecesis Metropolitae Toletana).

, 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 Antonio Marino (born 9 August 1988) is an Italian footballer who plays as a defender for club Latina. Career Marino started his career with amateur Eccellenza club Folgore Selinunte from Castelvetrano, until he was noticed by Udinese scout ...

(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 Granada via Lorca, Baza and

Guadix Guadix (; Local pronunciation: aˈðih is a city and municipality in southern Spain, in the province of Granada. The city lies at an altitude of 913 metres, on the centre of the Hoya of Guadix, a high plain at the northern foothills of the Sierr ...

. 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 is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

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

References

Sources and external links

*
Baza Information
- General Information about house sales in Baza

; Bibliography - ecclesiastical history * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 3 * ''España Sagrada'', vol. VII, Madrid 1750, pp. 80–96 * A. Lambert, lemma 'Basti' in ''Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques'', vol. VI, Paris 1932, coll. 1288-1291 {{authority control Populated places established in the 4th century BC Municipalities in the Province of Granada