Primero de Mayo Square

You are standing in Primero de Mayo Square, known for centuries as the Paseo del Mercado, one of Úbeda’s oldest and most vibrant public spaces. As early as the tenth century, the city’s Arab zoco was held here, making this square the political, economic and social centre of the medieval town. For centuries, markets, public announcements, festivals, bullfights and even autos de fe and executions took place here, for this was where the city lived, judged and celebrated. The square once had arcades where nobles and merchants mingled, but these were walled up in the nineteenth century to create the continuous façade you see today. Around you stand several major buildings. Behind you is the Gothic-Renaissance Church of San Pablo, the city’s second-oldest temple, which long served as the municipal seat and safeguarded noble archives. On the side of the square rise the Antiguas Casas Consistoriales, a civic masterpiece of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. You will walk past them in a few metres—just look to your right. You will easily recognise them by their elegant Renaissance loggias, designed in part under the supervision of Andrés de Vandelvira. They now house the María de Molina Conservatory. At the centre of the square, the bandstand continues to host concerts and festivities, preserving a long tradition of popular sociability. Beside it stands the monument to Saint John of the Cross, inaugurated in 1959, honouring the mystical poet who died in Úbeda in 1591. He is one of Spain’s most important spiritual authors. Feel free to walk to the middle of the square to take it all in before continuing your visit.