Residence of the poet and headquarters of the Speaker…

El espacio de la ciudad que guarda mayor relación con Miguel Hernández es la morada donde reside cuando llega a la capital y donde convive con su esposa Josefina Manresa.

Esta vivienda se sitúa en el número 9 de la calle Llana –hoy Francisco Coello, número 9–, Palacio de los Marqueses de Blanco Hermoso (existen varias fotografías donde el matrimonio se encuentra en la azotea escribiendo a máquina o en otros quehaceres).

Se da la curiosidad de que el edificio, además de su vivienda, también era la sede del Comisariado y donde se localizaba el Altavoz del Frente Sur.

Actualmente el edificio es una vivienda particular y no se puede visitar siendo una placa en la fachada, lo único que evoca la importante trascendencia de este edificio.

Al igual que las fotografías con su esposa, existen otras tanto en el interior como en la azotea donde aparecen otros miembros del Comisariado, por lo que debió ser un lugar muy ajetreado.

The Orange Trees Square

Continuing in a straight line along Calle Maestra, we turn and climb slightly up Calle Colegio until we reach Plaza de los Naranjos, a beautiful corner brimming with citrus fruits that give it its name and the only space where you can enjoy a beautiful ceramic plate dedicated to Miguel Hernández and complemented with a nice and brief extract from the poem “The last corner”:

(…)

The orange trees tastes like life and the olive trees tastes like time.

And in between their grieving

My passions collide.(…)

Air-raid shelter

After the bombing of the city of Jaén by Francoist troops on April 1, 1937, which caused 159 fatalities and considerable material damage, measures were taken to prevent and minimize future air attacks: sound warnings, night-time darkness by turning off lights and the construction of several public underground shelters scattered throughout the city.

Shelters that, at the end of the war, were abandoned and even forgotten, with significant physical deterioration. One of them, located in the Plaza de Santiago, was built using the old crypts of the Church of Santiago. A shelter that had a capacity to accommodate up to 1,040 people in its different corridors in the event of a possible bombing.

This refuge has been recovered as a space for interpretation of the Civil War and as a place of historical memory of Andalusia. In its corridors you can see various photographs of the bombing, the tragic consequences it caused, as well as other testimonies such as front pages of the Southern Front or various poems by Miguel Hernández. The refuge can also be seen through a virtual visit:  http://www.bimnd.es/wp-content/uploads/Panorama/Refugio.html.

Institute of Jaén Studies

Institute of Jaén Studies (Instituto de Estudios Giennenses – IEG) is an Autonomous Body of the Diputación de Jaén whose main function is the promotion and study of culture, science and art in the province of Jaén.

The IEG is introduced in this itinerary due to its work of documentation and custody of the Miguel Hernández Legacy. A legacy made up of 5,600 records and more than 26,000 images (collections of manuscripts, photographs, brochures, scores, historical press, sound recordings, etc.), with the intention of being a fundamental tool to promote studies and research on the figure and the work of the poet.

Although the Legacy can be consulted through the Internet: https://www.dipujaen.es/ miguelhernandez, it is possible to consult part of it in this institution, which has its headquarters in the Old Hospital of San Juan de Dios de Jaén, a 15th century building.

Jabalcuz hot springs

Although quite far from the proposed Hernandian urban itinerary, one of the places that are linked to Miguel Hernández and that deserve a visit are the Jabalcuz Hot Springs.

The hot springs were owned by the same owners as the building of his home and the Commissariat, so he may have known them for this reason. He used to walk or walk up there together with his wife, and sometimes bathed in a pool in the farm.

Josefina Manresa remembers these events in the book of her Memories: Memories of the widow of Miguel Hernández:

(…) We would go out for a while to the outskirts, to a party called Jabalcuz. There was a pool where Miguel bathed. Other times I typed. I wanted to teach myself. (…)

Currently, the Jabalcuz Hot Springs are in disuse, the historic garden being perfectly preserved, a place of incomparable beauty, while the building of the hot springs is in the process of restoration, improvement and enhancement. Not in vain, the historic garden is declared Asset of Cultural Interest.