Jerez de los Caballeros Castle

Anyone who climbs to the western side of the hill on which Jerez de los Caballeros stands will come upon its castle, a defensive structure whose origins date back to the 13th century. From this plateau the view opens out over the fertile plain of the River Ardila, and you need only look out to understand why this spot was so coveted: it commands the landscape of the Sierra de Santa María, at the far western end of Sierra Morena, in the south-west of the province of Badajoz.

The fortress cannot be understood without the town around it, which spreads out around the hill and is today the administrative centre of the Sierra Suroeste district. Jerez occupies the south-western tip of the so-called Sierra del Sur, a natural frontier territory that goes a long way towards explaining the military character of its main monument.

Most fascinating of all is the historical depth of the surroundings. Human presence here goes back to ancient times, as shown by the many dolmens found in the vicinity – those great stone tables whose name comes from Breton. Later came the Phoenicians, the Celtic Beturians, the Romans, the Visigoths and the Moors, and finally the military orders of the Templars and of Santiago, who left their mark on these lands. The site itself was originally known as Ugultiniacum.

One of the joys of a visit is that these layers can still be read: in Jerez de los Caballeros you can trace, almost layer by layer, a history that runs from prehistory to the age of the knights who gave the town its name. The castle, protected under the 1949 Decree and the Spanish Historical Heritage Act, is the best starting point for this journey through time.