Santa María Fountain

The work was commissioned by the Baeza Town Council to celebrate the definitive arrival of water in the city in 1564, during the tenure of corregidor Manrique de Cabrera and with the involvement of master plumber Ginés Martínez. Decades later, in 1670, it underwent various alterations. Today, it is recognised as one of Baeza’s most symbolic and prominent urban structures.

The fountain consists of a stone basin with a lobed outline and moulded profile, presided over by a central structure in the form of a triumphal arch. This rests on pedestals supporting paired Tuscan columns, joined to square-section pilasters. Rectangular openings topped with lintels are set on either side, decorated with modillions in the upper entablature. Commemorative cartouches accompanied by sculptural figures of atlantes and caryatids are positioned between these elements.

The central axis is occupied by a semicircular arch. Commemorative inscriptions appear on the sides alongside the city’s coat of arms. Above this level is an entablature featuring the coat of arms of Philip II, flanked by atlantes and large corbels, with the structure crowned by a triangular pediment.