Arco del Barbudo

The Arco del Barbudo (or Barbudo’s arch or gate) was one of the entrances on the ancient wall of Baeza. It was given this name, according to oral tradition, because Martín Yáñez de la Barbuda, a Portuguese master of the Order of Alcántara, passed through this gate in 1394 to fight against the Muslims in Granada. His army was defeated, and he was killed in what became known as a small Barbuda crusade not supported by the Christian King Henry III. A large part of the wall was demolished on orders of Isabel La Católica due to the internal struggles in Baeza in the last quarter of the 15th century. But the Barbudo arch remained, with its sober masonry composition. There is also a niche with a canvas of the Virgin and Child at one end, with prayers by Bishop Benito Marín dated 1758. In all the conquered cities, this fact was recorded in the Baroque counter-reformation.