Cerro de Santa Catalina Mirador
Separate from the castle entrance itself, the public mirador platform on the south flank of Cerro de Santa Catalina offers an unobstructed 180-degree sweep over the world's largest olive-growing landscape — Jaén province produces roughly 20% of the world's olive oil, and from up here you can actually believe it.
What You See
On a clear winter morning after rain has washed the air clean, you can pick out the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada some 100 kilometres to the south-east, with the silver ribbon of the Guadalquivir valley threading between the hills in the middle distance.
The city of Jaén itself fans out directly below: the baroque cathedral façade glows honey-coloured, the old Moorish quarter of La Magdalena climbs the hillside, and the modern grid of the Ensanche stretches south — a perfect geography lesson laid at your feet.
Best Times to Visit
Arrive at first light in November or December when the olive harvest is underway and the groves are full of pickers — the terraced hillsides glow green and silver in the low morning sun, and the air smells faintly of fresh-pressed oil drifting up from the mills below.
Photographers should note that the mirador faces due south-west, making it ideal for afternoon and evening light rather than sunrise shots of the city.
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