Vivienda Rural Posá la Cestería

Posá la Cestería is an old inn located on Callejón del Precipicio and dating back to the 16th century when the town of Baños de la Encina was born under the protection of Baños Castle. It is said that the street in which it stands, Cestería or Conquista, is the oldest in the town.

The name of the street, and also of the inn, comes from the age-old trade which the people of the area used to carry out: namely, basketwork ("cestería" in Spanish). Posá de la Cestería has been recently refurbished following the traditional local building methods: pink-coloured local stone, timber from oak and strawberry trees, with floors made from aged clay, slate and river stones. Along the street, geraniums, carnations, jasmine, orange blossom, pomegranate and lady of the night …provide splashes of colour and fragrance.

The ground floor of the inn has two bedrooms, one with double bed and one with 2/3 single beds. There is also a light and spacious bathroom. The top floor is accessed by a wooden staircase which divides the space into two living rooms. The most secluded has a fireplace, while the other, which is light and spacious, overlooks the plain of olive groves, the foothills of Sierra Morena mountains and the Sierra de Andújar nature reserve. A quaint, fully-fitted kitchen and a small terrace dotted with geraniums makes up the rest of the floor.

The furnishings and delightful touches have been lovingly arranged: private library, board games – some of which are traditional local games played on wooden or stone boards, such as “los lobos” (literally, "wolves"), modern, comfortable furniture (sofas, table, TV, beds) combined with more traditional elements in perfect condition (old sewing machine, pottery racks, etc.), all enhanced by traditional local decor.

Posá la Cestería inn offers various activities, such as bread-making workshops and prehistoric pottery workshops, guided walks around the local area and visits to historic sites, monuments and places of cultural interest in the town. The inn, which lies within a Starlight Reserve, is just 30 minutes from the UNESCO World Heritage Cities of Baeza and Úbeda, and 10 minutes from the Iberian-Roman city and Cástulo, famous for the recent outstanding discoveries made there: Mosaico de los Amores (Mosaic of Loves), Paten of Christ, etc.