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.

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

left|thumb|250x250px|Town Hall of Baza

The sculpture of the Lady of Baza is an Iberian Iron Age 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 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.

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.

thumb|290px|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

  • 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 as a Latin titular bishopric, suffragan of the Archdiocese of Toledo, 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 :

  • 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 (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. 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's book The Conquest of Granada.

Notable people

  • David Valero, Spanish cyclist

See also

  • List of Catholic dioceses in Spain, Andorra, Ceuta and Gibraltar
  • List of municipalities in Granada

References

  • Baza Information - General Information about house sales in Baza
  • GCatholic - Baza bishopric

Bibliography