Plaza General Castaños (El paseo)

Here is where there once was, if not the most well-known, one of the most famous post houses in Spain. A continuous hustle and bustle of carriages would pass through here, given that this was an essential route along the Camino Real towards the Kingdom’s Capital, providing Bailén with a privileged what we could call ‘Stagecoach’ tourism.

Nowadays it is called Plaza General Castaños in honour of the General who defeated the Napoleonic troops, Francisco Javier Castaños y Aragorri – first Duke of Bailén. It is popularly known as El Paseo; a name which refers to those evenings where the young people of Bailén used to walk through the square expecting to find their first love.

In the mid-19th Century it was renovated to install a carving of the roman goddess Iberia known as “The Matron” and identified by all as María Bellido; the heroine of Bailén, a valiant woman who, alongside the people of Bailén, dedicated herself to supplying water to the Spanish Army, when a French bullet broke her jug while offering water to General Reding.

In 1862, Queen Isabel II took a tour through Andalucía and Murcia to learn first-hand about the needs of the territory, arriving at Bailén on the 6th of October of that same year. Upon her departure, the people of Bailén say goodbye to her, showing their great admiration and in gratitude, Her Majesty makes various donations; thus, the Fountain of the Goddess Iberia received it with several plaques around it in her memory and tribute to various protagonists in the conflict, as well as to the majesty of Her Majesty, who commissioned it in honor of the great work carried out by the people of Bailén in supporting the Spanish Troops that 19th of July and, in addition, to supply the city of Bailén with water with a public fountain, as well as many more tributes to the victory that occurred in 1808. Until the mid-70s, the square was used for the celebration of civic and religious events during the Commemorative Festivities of the Battle of Bailén.

Nowadays it continues being the meeting place to start an afternoon or evening of leisure, in addition to being the scenario for concerts of local music bands, thanks to its Music Kiosk.