The Alcazar of Jerez de la Frontera

Students of 2nd cycle of Primary Education went to visit the Alcazar of Sherry last Wednesday. We saw the play "where sleeping dragons".  A Grimm brother told us a legend happened inside the Alcazar.  This monument is a Moorish fortress. It was declared in 1931 Property of Cultural Interest (Bien de interés cultural). A first fortress was probably built in the 11th century in the south-eastern corner of the city. In the 12th century, a new structure was erected to be used as both residence and fortress by the Almohad rulers of southern Spain. Later, after the Reconquest of Andalusia, it was the seat of the first Christian mayors.

 Features include:a grossly quadrangular line of walls (with a perimeter of 4,000 m). The Octagonal Tower (in Almohad style). The Tower of Ponce de León (the donjon dating to the 14th century). A mosque (the only remaining of the eighteen once present in the city. The minaret was turned into a bell tower. The praying hall, preceded by a small room of ritual ablutions, features a mihrab, indicating the direction of Mecca, and a rib vault with a circular window at the top. Palace of the Patio de Doña Blanca (dating to the 12th century Islamic structure, originally a leisure pavilion). Baths (they include an entrance area for undressing, leading to the cold and tepid rooms, the latter being the largest in the complex. The final room is the hot room, whose heating system is still partially visible). Gardens (there are olives, cypresses, mixed flowers and goldfish ponds).

Del original alcázar islámico, se conservan las puertas, la mezquita, los baños árabes, la torre octogonal y el Pabellón del patio de Doña Blanca de Borbón. De etapas posteriores, destaca la Torre del Homenaje (siglo XIV) y el palacio barroco de Villavicencio (donde escuchamos el cuentacuentos) y el Molino de aceite (siglo XVIII). Circundado en parte por la amplia Alameda Vieja, destaca la imponente Torre Octogonal, de estilo almohade, así como la Torre del Homenaje de los Ponce de León. Más tarde, una fachada renacentista sustituyó al antiguo muro de paso a los baños árabes. Fue entregado en 1255 por Ibn Abit, último rey andalusí de Jerez, a Alfonso X El sabio tras la reconquista de la ciudad.

En 2009, unas excavaciones encontraron fondos de cabañas así como la huella de la presencia de antiguos silos que parece que correspondían a asentamientos de época prehistórica, concretamente del periodo Calcolitico de hace 5.000 años