| Baza | |
| Settlement Type: | Municipality |
| Pushpin Map: | Spain |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Spain |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Spain |
| Subdivision Type1: | Autonomous community |
| Subdivision Name1: | Andalusia |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Name2: | Granada |
| Subdivision Type3: | Comarca |
| Subdivision Name3: | Baza |
| Subdivision Type4: | Judicial district |
| Subdivision Name4: | Baza |
| Coordinates: | 37.4833°N -48°W |
| Elevation M: | 844 |
| Area Total Km2: | 545 |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | Between 1810 and 500 BC |
| Population Demonym: | Bastetano, na |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Official language(s) |
| Timezone: | CET |
| Utc Offset: | +1 |
| Timezone Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 18800 |
| Area Code Type: | Dialing code |
| Area Code: | (+34) 958 |
| Leader Title: | Alcalde |
| Leader Name: | Pedro Fernández Peñalver (2007) |
| Leader Party: | PSOE |
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.
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
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 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 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.[1]
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.
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.
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 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.[2] [3] [4]
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).
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,[5] 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 :
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.[6]
The northern branch of the A-92 highway also passes next to the town.
The 1489 siege of Baza is described in Washington Irving's book The Conquest of Granada.