Jaén is a city in southern Spain. known for its olive oil production, and for its fortresses, including medieval Santa Catalina Castle. Castillo de Santa Catalina The first settlers of Santa Catalina hill were the Iberian people (back in the 4th century b.c.) who built an oppidum (walled town) of which archaelogical remains are still preserved Romans and later Arabs superseded these ancient structures to build their fortresses. The first fortress to be built on the hill after the Iberian period was carried out by Muslims during 8th and 9th centuries, a period in which a citadel was built on the middle of the hillside. After the conquest of the city by the Christians, the Islamic walls were enhenced by Ferdinand III, who began the construction of a new fortress on the highest part of the old Muslim fortress.the most important modifications throughout its history took place between January 1810 and September 1812 when the Napoleonic army modified the fortress and turned it into the largest and most important base of the French army in the High Guadalquivir area. After the French withdrawal, at the beginning of the 20th century, the nacitonal gouvernment tried to restore part of its former splendor. On June 31, 1963, it was declared a National Historic-Artistic Monument