BAZA (the medieval Bastiana), a city of Spain in the province of Granada, situated in a fruitful valley in the Sierra Nevada, not far from the river of its own name. In the time of the Moors it was one of the three most important cities in the kingdom of Granada, carrying on an extensive trade, and numbering no fewer than 50,000 inhabitants. It was captured by the Spaniards in 1489 after a seven months' siege. The city still contains various remains of Moorish architecture, as well as its ancient church, which had been converted into a mosque ; and in the neighbouring plain have been discovered from time to time numerous relics of antiquity, both Roman and medieval. The principal trade of the place is at present in hemp ; its population numbers 7270. It is the birthplace of Ribera, the historian of Granada. In 1810 Sault defeated a large Spanish army in the immediate vicinity.