The history of Jerez, fact by fact
Tools up to 650,000 years old, an unexcavated city, an Almohad medina and the wine that went around the world. Each data has its source; the legends, marked as legend.
Did you know…? · Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz · Updated on 10/21/2026
Before the conquest
Prehistory, Asta Regia and the Andalusian Jerez.
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Tools up to 650,000 years old
The oldest stone tools in the Museo Arqueológico de Jerez came from the terraces of the Guadalete river, about 11 km from the city. They are between 650,000 and 400,000 years old.
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Asta Regia, unexcavated
Mesas de Asta, on the outskirts of Jerez, holds the ancient city of Asta Regia and is one of the great unexcavated sites in Spain. It was inhabited from recent prehistory until its abandonment, around the 10th century.
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Asta Regia becomes public
In November 2025 the Junta de Andalucía announced the purchase of the 90 hectares of the Asta Regia archaeological zone. It has been an Asset of Cultural Interest since April 2000.
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Sherish, the first name
The city's first documented name is the Arabic Šeriš (Sherish), which perhaps comes from Seriensis, a wine town whose name was pronounced "serés" at the end of Antiquity.
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Named more than a thousand years ago
Jerez already appears in Andalusi texts more than a thousand years ago. In the mid-10th century, the chronicler al-Razi described it as a town "renowned among all the towns of Spain".
- Tradition
The surname of the Border
The surname "de la Frontera" comes from the centuries when Jerez was on the front line against the Nasrid kingdom of Granada. According to the Jerez City Council, King Juan I granted it in 1380.
Alcázar, walls and conquest
The Almohad medina and the entrance of Alfonso
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The Almohad Alcázar
The Alcázar is the oldest monument that Jerez still has. The Almohads built it in the 12th century, at the same time as the city wall.
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A 4 km wall
The Almohad wall measured about 4 km and formed almost a square. It had a gate on each side: Real, Sevilla, Santiago and Rota.
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The only remaining mosque
The Alcázar mosque is the only one preserved from Islamic Jerez; after the conquest of 1264, Alfonso X turned it into a chapel.
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The great souk
The great souk of Islamic Jerez stood where plaza de la Asunción, San Dionisio, plaza Plateros and calle Francos are today: shopping in the same place for centuries.
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Houses on the wall
On calle Larga there are houses leaning on the Almohad wall: at number 51, the back wall follows the defensive line of the Islamic medina.
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The conquest of 1264
According to the traditional date, Alfonso X took Jerez on 9 October 1264, the day of San Dionisio, after a five-month siege. Its six old parishes in the center were built over mosques.
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1264 or 1266?
The date of 1264 is disputed. A 2015 study maintains that the documents of that day do not exist and places the capture of Jerez in October 1266.
Streets and monuments
What you still see when walking through the center.
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Streets with trade names
Several streets and squares in the center still carry the name of the trade carried out there: Sedería, Escribanos, Curtidores, Plateros and Chapinería.
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Canes on horseback in Arenal
For centuries the plaza del Arenal was the main square, and there knights played cañas on horseback in two fixed teams: the Dávila and the Villavicencio. The young played on Thursdays and the elders on Sundays.
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A stream under the Cathedral
Where the Cathedral stands today there was a stream with tanneries, and the bad smell made everyone who could move away. In the 16th century part of the stream was covered over and the area was settled again.
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The camera obscura
In the tower of the Palacio de Villavicencio, inside the Alcázar, a camera obscura projects real, moving images of Jerez and its countryside, with no screens.
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The 19th century apothecary
On the third floor of the Palacio de Villavicencio is the former 19th-century municipal pharmacy, with its carved wooden furniture and original apothecary jars.
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The Watchtower Tower
The Torre de la Atalaya, next to San Dionisio, was built in the mid-15th century for the city's first clock and to warn of dangers with smoke signals. That is why it is also called the Torre del Reloj or de la Vela.
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The clocks that ring
At the Palacio del Tiempo the clocks work and chime every hour. The collection began with 152 pieces and now displays 287.
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Cathedral since 1980
Jerez Cathedral has been a cathedral only recently: on 3 March 1980 John Paul II created the diocese of Asidonia-Jerez, after centuries of demands from the city.
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Electric light
According to the City Council, Haro (La Rioja) and Jerez were the first two towns in Spain with electric light, and that is why in 2024 it was proposed to twin them.
The history of wine
From trade with England to the first designation of origin of Spain.
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Rules of wine in 1483
In 1483 Jerez already had written rules for the grape harvest and the wine trade. They were driven by demand from English, French and Flemish buyers.
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Shakespeare's Sherry Sack
In 16th- and 17th-century England, Jerez wine was called "sherry sack" and was fashionable. Shakespeare praises it in "Henry IV, Part Two".
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The wine that went around the world
Magellan bought 417 wineskins and 253 casks of Jerez wine for his long voyage, which is why it may have been the first wine to sail around the world.
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3,000 Boots Looted
In 1587, Frobisher, of Drake's fleet, sacked Cádiz and took 3,000 butts of Jerez wine.
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A train that never existed
As early as 1829 a Royal Order granted a 5.83 km railway between Jerez and El Portal to carry wine barrels to the Guadalete, almost twenty years before Barcelona-Mataró. It was never built.
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The first train in Andalusia
Andalusia's first railway began operating in 1854 and linked Jerez with El Puerto de Santa María. Its reason for being was wine.
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The first D.O. of Spain
The Jerez Denomination of Origin was the first in Spain: it came into being with the 1933 Wine Law and published its regulations in January 1935.
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Tío Pepe existed
Tío Pepe did exist: he was José María Ángel y Vargas, uncle of the founder of González Byass, Manuel María González Ángel. The figure was created by Luis Pérez Solero in 1935 and the sign in Madrid's Puerta del Sol has been there since 1957.
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Sherry is Jerez
The English word "sherry" is nothing other than the name Jerez said in English. Sherish, Xerez and Jerez are the same name that changed over the centuries.
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Where does tabanco come from?
The word "tabanco" was born in Jerez for a place that was part tavern, part wine shop. One theory says it comes from combining "estanco" and "tabaco" in the 17th century.
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The first Harvest Festival
Jerez held the first Grape Harvest Festival in Spain: it was first celebrated on 12 and 13 September 1948.
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Brotherhood with Tequila
Jerez and Tequila (Jalisco, Mexico) have been twinned since 1982: two cities with designations of origin tied to their land.
People and moments
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Manuel Torre, from San Miguel
Manuel Torre, born in 1878 in the San Miguel neighborhood, worked as a boy as a fisherman and used his singing to earn a little money. Later he was billed in the cafés as "El Niño de Jerez".
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Caballero Bonald, Cervantes Prize
José Manuel Caballero Bonald, Cervantes Prize 2012, was born in Jerez on 11 November 1926, the son of a Cuban Creole father and a French mother.
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Why is José Mercé called that?
José Mercé takes his name from the Basílica de la Merced: as a very small boy he joined its choir school, where he began to sing and from which his stage name came.
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Senna and Mansell, by 0.014 seconds
On 13 April 1986, at the Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix in Jerez, Ayrton Senna beat Nigel Mansell by just 0.014 seconds.
Legends
What is told, marked as legend: is not a proven fact.
- Legend
The Caged Corner of Malillo
Legend has it that in the Rincón Malillo a gambling, quarrelsome gentleman challenged the devil, and from that night he was left with a wound on his arm that never healed. The neighbors called it "El Enjaulado" because he hardly left the house anymore.
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There are Moors on the coast
It is said that the expression "hay moros en la costa" has to do with watchtowers like the Atalaya, which in the 16th century warned of Barbary attacks on the Cádiz coast.
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The Bitter Dinner
Legend has it that the owners of the Torre de Melgarejo were murdered one night while having dinner, and that is why a street in the neighborhood is called "Amarga cena".
Where to see the history of Jerez
Museums and monuments. Google Maps notes consulted on 10/13/2026.
- 4.5 on Google
Alcazar
Almohad fortress with mosque, gardens, Arab baths and the camera obscura. 6,551 reviews (10/13/2026).
- 4.4 on Google
Cathedral
Baroque, in front of the wineries, on the old tanners' stream. 6,924 reviews (10/13/2026).
- Accessible
Archaeological Museum
In the Market Square, San Mateo neighborhood. Trace the history of Jerez since Prehistory and keep the Greek helmet found in Guadalete.
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Claustros de Santo Domingo
Gothic cloister of the old Dominican convent, next to Alameda Cristina. Hosts exhibitions.
- Paid
- On the outskirts
La Cartuja
A monastery with one of Andalusia's most striking façades, just a few kilometres from the centre.
- Free
Plaza de la Asunción y San Dionisio
Where the great souk of Islamic Jerez was.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Jerez the same place as Jerez de la Frontera?
Usually, yes. In this guide, Jerez means Jerez de la Frontera in Cádiz province. Other Spanish towns also include Jerez in their names, such as Jerez de los Caballeros (Badajoz) and Jerez del Marquesado (Granada).
Why is it called Jerez de la Frontera?
For the centuries in which Jerez was on the front line against the Nasrid kingdom of Granada, according to the Jerez City Council.
When was Jerez conquered?
The traditional date is October 9, 1264, the day of San Dionisio, with Alfonso X. A 2015 study maintains that the capture was in October 1266.
What is the oldest monument in Jerez?
The Alcázar, built by the Almohads in the 12th century, at the same time as the wall.
What does sherry mean?
It is the name of Jerez said in English: Sherish, Xerez and Jerez are the same name that changed over the centuries.
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