Source of El Nacimiento and Washing Place of Frailes

El Nacimiento, due to its volume and location in the heart of Frailes, Jaén, is the most important natural spring out of the four that there are in the town. This spring supplies water to the residents, irrigates part of the vegetable gardens nearby, and it has historically been used for watering cattle.

In the past, this water was used to move oil and flour mills in Frailes. Opposite the spring we find the so-called “Lavadero de Frailes”, the town's oldest washing place, but not the only one. Today we can still find some traces of other old washing places.

Above the natural spring we find Calle Castillejo. Frailes stands out mainly because of the high volume of water, coming from the popularly called Arroyo de la Martina and Sotorredondo. For these reasons, Calle Castillejo is thought to make reference to an old fortress (now disappeared) that defended the use of this water from Barranco de la Martina ravine.