Jerez de los Caballeros

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jerez de los Caballeros municipality
Jerez de los Caballeros - town view
Jerez de los Caballeros - town view
coat of arms Map of Spain
Coat of arms of Jerez de los Caballeros
Jerez de los Caballeros (Spain)
Finland road sign 311 (1994-2020) .svg
Basic data
Autonomous Community : Extremadura
Province : Badajoz
Comarca : Sierra Suroeste
Coordinates 38 ° 19 ′  N , 6 ° 46 ′  W Coordinates: 38 ° 19 ′  N , 6 ° 46 ′  W
Height : 480  msnm
Area : 739.79 km²
Residents : 9,303 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density : 12.58 inhabitants / km²
Postal code : 06380
Municipality number  ( INE ): 06070
administration
Website : Jerez de los Caballeros

Jerez de los Caballeros is a small town and a municipality ( municipio ) with 9,303 inhabitants (as of 2019) in the Spanish province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura . The center of Jerez de los Caballeros was classified as a Conjunto histórico-artístico in 1998 because of its historical and cultural importance .

location

The small town of Jerez de los Caballeros is located on a saddle in the west of the Sierra del Sur about 75 km (driving distance) south of the provincial capital Badajoz at an altitude of about 460 to 490 m above sea level. d. It is approx. 158 km to Seville in a south-easterly direction. The climate in winter is temperate, while in summer it is warm to hot; the low rainfall (approx. 600 mm / year) falls - with the exception of the almost rainless summer months - distributed over the whole year.

Population development

year 1857 1900 1950 2000 2016
Residents 8,295 10,271 15,966 9,594 9,531

In 1960, the population reached its numerical peak with almost 20,000 inhabitants. The subsequent significant population decline is mainly due to the mechanization of agriculture and the associated loss of jobs. The municipality also includes the villages of La Bazana , Brovales and Valuengo , which were only founded in the 20th century .

economy

While the surrounding area was largely agricultural for centuries, traders, craftsmen and service providers of all kinds settled in the small town. Jerez de los Caballeros is known for its meat products, especially ham, sausages, etc. Since the 1970s, domestic and international tourism has played a not insignificant role in the city's economic life.

Statuesmenhir (today in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional de España in Madrid )

history

The area was inhabited as early as the Neolithic ( Dolmen Granja de Toriñuelo and Estela de la Granja del Toriñuelo ); the Phoenician name may have been Ceret . Roman ( Villa del Pomar , grave stelae etc.) and Visigoth finds were made. In the Moorish times the place was known under the name Xeris or Xerixa . As part of the reconquest of the south of the Iberian Peninsula ( reconquista ) under King Alfonso IX. of León (Reg. 1188-1230) and with the active support of the Knights Templar , the place became Christian in 1230. Then the repopulation ( repoblación ) began by farmers, craftsmen and traders from the north. After the Knights Templar was dissolved by a bull from Pope Clement V in 1312, the city fell to the Kingdom of Castile . After a Portuguese interlude in the first half of the 14th century, King Henry II handed the city over to the Order of Santiago in 1370 .

Conquistadors and colonizers from Jerez de los Caballeros played an important role in the discovery and conquest of America and the Philippines . In 1526, Charles V gave the city the title muy noble y muy leal ciudad with the associated privileges. Jerez de los Caballeros experienced a heyday during the peaceful period of the Spanish-Portuguese personal union (1580–1640); during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), the city was captured three times by the Portuguese.

Attractions

Tower and facade of San Bartolomé
Choir of San Miguel Arcángel
  • The castle (castillo) with its distinctive keep (torre del homenaje) and the city wall (muralla) with its two preserved gates probably date from the time of the Knights Templar. The castle was built on the site of a Moorish fortress ( alcazaba ) .
  • Several churches with partly imposing towers and altarpieces worth seeing as well as numerous hermitages shape the cityscape. The late baroque churches of San Bartolomé , San Miguel Arcángel , Santa Catalina and Santa María de la Encarnación are particularly worth mentioning .
  • Some city palaces belonging to wealthy families are also noteworthy.
  • The Museo del Arte Sacro presents sculptures, pictures, books and handicrafts of sacred art.
  • The alleged birthplace of Vasco Núñez de Balboa , the explorer and conquistador , has been transformed into a museum of the history of the city and of discovery.
Surroundings
  • Approx. 1 km southeast of the village are the exposed foundations of the Roman villa of El Pomal, built in the 3rd or 4th century . Some of the floor mosaics are still partially preserved.
  • On a farm (granja) located about seven kilometers east of the city is the Dolmen de Toriñuelo , covered by a mound of earth ( tumulus ) with a diameter of approx. 48 m , an approx. 4500 year old tholos grave from the time of the megalithic cultures (see also: Tholos from El Romeral ). The almost round burial chamber inside has a diameter of approx. 3.50 m and is surrounded by 12 (formerly 13) precisely hewn orthostats ; a cantilever dome forms the ceiling. The associated figurative stele ( statue menhir ) is located in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional de España in Madrid .

Personalities

literature

Web links

Commons : Jerez de los Caballeros  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
  2. ↑ Jerez de los Caballeros - Conjunto histórico-artístico
  3. ↑ Jerez de los Caballeros - Map with altitude information
  4. ↑ Jerez de los Caballeros - climate tables
  5. ↑ Jerez de los Caballeros - population development
  6. ↑ Jerez de los Caballeros - castle and city walls
  7. ↑ Jerez de los Caballeros - churches and hermitages
  8. ↑ Jerez de los Caballeros - Palacios
  9. ↑ Jerez de los Caballeros - Museo del Arte Sacro
  10. ↑ Jerez de los Caballeros - Casa Vasco Núñez de Balboa
  11. ↑ Jerez de los Caballeros - Villa Romana of El Pomal
  12. ↑ Jerez de los Caballeros - Dolmen de Toriñuelo; Photos, floor plan
  13. ↑ Jerez de los Caballeros - Dolmen de Toriñuelo
  14. ↑ Jerez de los Caballeros - Dolmen de Toriñuelo