Baza, Granada

Last updated
Baza
Bandera de Baza (Granada).svg
Coat of Arms of Baza.svg
LocationBaza (municipality).png
Spain location map with provinces.svg
Red pog.svg
Baza
Location in Spain
Coordinates: 37°29′N2°46′W / 37.483°N 2.767°W / 37.483; -2.767
CountryFlag of Spain.svg  Spain
Autonomous community Andalusia
Province Granada
Comarca Baza
Judicial district Baza
FoundedBetween 1810 and 500 BC
Government
   Alcalde Pedro Fernández Peñalver (2007) (PSOE)
Area
  Total545 km2 (210 sq mi)
Elevation
844 m (2,769 ft)
Population
 (2018) [1]
  Total20,519
  Density38/km2 (98/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Bastetano, na
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
18800
Dialing code (+34) 958
Website Official website

Baza is a town in the province of Granada in Andalusia (southern Spain), twice a former Catholic bishopric and now a Latin Catholic titular see as Basti.

Contents

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. The dome-shaped mountain of Jabalcón overlooks the town from the north-west. The Municipality lies at the southern edge of the Altiplano de Granada

History

Town Hall of Baza Bazagov.JPG
Town Hall of Baza

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 in the 4th century BC and named Basti, the name by which it was known in Roman times. As part of the Roman province of Tarraco, it was an important commercial center [2] and an early bishopric (see below).

Under the Moors, Baza was an important frontier post along the border with the kingdom of Murcia. 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.

Under Islamic rule (713 – 1489), the cathedral, founded by the Visigoth king Reccared in about 600, and whose traditional site is occupied by the ancient church of San Máximo, was converted into a mosque [2] and the bishopric was doomed.

In the 11th century, a Jewish community was present in Baza. A Jewish ritual bath, or mikveh, was excavated where the old judería existed. [3]

In 1489, during the Granada War, 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 defeated a large Spanish force near the town. [2]

Ecclesiastical history

The bishopric of Basti was in existence by 306, the date of the Council of Elvira, 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. The cathedral was founded by the Visigoth king Reccared in about 600; its traditional site is occupied by the ancient church of San Máximo. [2]

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 mosque [2] and the bishopric disappeared in the 13th century, but was restored in 1306.

After the Reconquista, the territories of the two historical sees of Basti and Ancient Acci were united on 21 May 1492 as the modern Diocese of Guadix, a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Granada. A collegiate church, 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. [4] [5] [6]

Baza's co-cathedral of the Incarnation Bazaiglesias.JPG
Baza's co-cathedral of the Incarnation

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

Pre-Moorish Bishops of Baza
Bishops of refounded Baza
(incomplete)

Titular see

No longer a residential bishopric, Basti (alias Baza) is listed by the Catholic Church as a Latin titular bishopric, suffragan of the Archdiocese of Toledo, [7] nominally restored in 1969 as Titular bishopric of Basti (Curiate Italian) / Basticen(sis) (Latin adjective).

It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank :

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. Reopening this line has been proposed. [8]

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's book The Conquest of Granada.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Condom</span> French diocese

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Condom was a French bishopric based in Condom from 1317 to 1801.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krbava</span> Historical region of Croatia Proper

Krbava is a historical region located in Mountainous Croatia and a former Catholic bishopric (1185–1460), precursor of the diocese of Modruš and present Latin titular see.

Berissa, also spelled Berisa, Verisa, or Verissa, was a city in the late Roman province of Pontus Polemoniacus, in Asia Minor, which Kiepert and W. M. Ramsay have identified with the modern village of Baulus, 25 kilometres south-west of Tokat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oschiri</span> Comune in Sardinia, Italy

Oschiri is a comune (municipality) and former bishopric in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 170 kilometres (110 mi) north of Cagliari and about 40 kilometres (25 mi) southwest of Olbia.

Naissus was an ancient city and former bishopric in Balkanic Dacia, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Guadix</span> Diocese of the Catholic Church in Spain

The Diocese of Guadix is a Latin suffragan diocese of the Catholic Church in the ecclesiastical province of Granada in Andalusia, southern Spain and a Latin titular bishopric under its Ancient name of Acci. Its cathedral episcopal see is Nuestra Señora de la Anunciación, dedicated to Our Lady of the Annunciation, in the city of Guadix, administrative province of Granada. It was commenced in 1710, on the site occupied by the principal mosque, and completed in 1796.

The Diocese of Castro di Sardegna was a Roman Catholic diocese located in the town of Oschiri in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region of Sardinia. In 1503, it was suppressed along with the Diocese of Bisarcio and the Diocese of Ottana to form the Diocese of Alghero.

The Diocese of Drivasto or Diocese of Drivast was a Roman Catholic bishopric with see in the town of Drivasto from circa 400 to 1650 and is now a Latin Catholic titular see. It was suppressed in 1650 but restored as Latin titular see.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulna (North Africa)</span>

Bulnensis also known as Bulna is a titular episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Church ascribed to the ecclesiastical province of Africa Proconsularis, as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Carthage.

Bulnensis, also known as Bure, is a titular episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Church ascribed to the ecclesiastical province of Africa Proconsularis, as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Carthage.

Taborenta, Mauretania Caesariensis was a Berber civitas (town) and bishopric in Roman North Africa. It disappeared during the 7th century, and is assumed to be near Saida in modern Algeria. It was nominally restored in 1933 as a titular see.

Buleliana was a civitas (town) and bishopric in Roman North Africa and remains a Latin Catholic titular see.

Drusiliana was a civitas (town) of Roman North Africa. Bingham called it a city of the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis. An inscription of Constantine the Great was found in the city ruins and it appears on the Tabula Peutingeriana The town has been tentatively identified with ruins near Khanguet-el-Kdim in northern Algeria. Located at 36.249547°N 8.907667°E. Epigraphical evidence suggest Constantine the Great undertook some works in the city in 312AD.

Botriana is a locality and archaeological site in Tunisia

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uzzipari</span>

Uzzipari was a Roman town of the Roman Empire during late antiquity. An exact location for the town has been lost to history although that it was in the Roman province of Africa Proconsolaris means it must have been in northern Tunisia.

Dystis was a city and bishopric in Roman Libya, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culusi</span> Roman town in Africa Proconsolare

Culusi was a Roman town of the Roman province of Africa Proconsolare, located near Carthage. It is also known as Culcitana or Culsitana. The city is tentatively identified with ruins in the suburbs of Tunisia.

Henchir-Bladia is an archaeological site and locality in southern Tunisia. The stone ruins are tentatively associated with Bladia, a civitas of the Roman province of Byzacena during the Roman Empire. It was a Catholic bishopric.

Filaca was an ancient city in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis and in late antiquity of Byzacena in what is today the Sahel region of Tunisia.

Media was an ancient city and former bishopric in Roman North Africa, now a Latin Catholic titular see in Algeria.

References

  1. Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Wikisource-logo.svg One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Baza". Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 559.
  3. "Baza, Spain". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  4. Bibliothèque sacrée, ou Dictionnaire universel, t. XI, Paris 1823, pp. 356–361
  5. Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, vol. 2 Archived 2018-10-04 at the Wayback Machine , p. 162; vol. 3, p. 206; vol. 4 Archived 2018-10-04 at the Wayback Machine , p. 198; vol. 5, p. 214; vol. 6, p. 230
  6. Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, pp. 3–4
  7. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN   978-88-209-9070-1), p. 838
  8. "Concentración en Baza para pedir el tren entre Andalucía y Murcia y combatir la España vaciada". Granada Hoy (in Spanish). 31 December 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
Bibliography - ecclesiastical history