Depart of the Vuelta (Cycling Tour to Spain)

Official Promotional Video:

Routes:

a

The next 23^rd of August the Vuelta will depart from Jerez, where will carry out a team time trial in the city streets. The event will begin at 19:00

During the presentation of the teams and the route, the city will show to 178 countries that broadcast the Vuelta, the symbols of Jerez as the wine and the horses.

The depart zone will be located in Plaza del Mamelón where have been installed many barrels of wine and four venencias used as fountains.

Also the presentation gala will take place in Jerez the 22^nd of August at 20:00 in the same place that depart zone, Plaza del Mamelón.

From Tuesday, there are some activities linked with cycling that will be organized in the city.

•  Cyclist meeting. Tuesday 19^th of August at 19:30. The cyclists will do the same route than the professional cyclists during the team time trial.
• Saturday 23^rd of August from 16:30 to 20:30 in Plaza del Arenal will take place the promotional zone where the partners of the Vuelta will put on their stands, organize games, exhibitions, contests and sport activities. For all the ages and free entry.
• Vuelta Junior. Saturday 23^rd of August at 17:00. The Vuelta Junior was born to promote the cycling to the young people through the values of overcoming, integration, friendship and respect to the environment.
• Sport activities in the finish zone, Saturday 23^rd from 18:30 in González Hontoria Park. Spinning, dancing, zumba... and others activities for children.

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Flamenco's Fridays

As the last years, the city council organizes the Flamenco's Fridays. It is an event in which all the Fridays of August there are performances of flamenco in a monumental place of the city, the Alcazar ofJerez.

This year, the organization has focused in flamenco dance, so that all the performances will have the participation of an expert artist and other beginner.

• 1^st of August: Singer, Antonio Cortés "chiquetete”; and Salomé Ramírez and Carlos Carbonell dancers. The guitarist will be Periquín “Niño Jero”.
• 8^th of August: Singer, Juan Villar; and Saray Jiménez and Antonio Molina “El Choro” as dancers. The guitarist will be again Periquín.
• 15^th of August: Singer, Romerito de Jerez and the guitarist will be his son, "Romerito hijo". Fernando Jiménez and "La Lupi" as dancers.
• 22^nd of August: Singer, Juana la del Pipa, Antonio Jero as guitarist and Yessica Brea y Eduardo Guerrero as dancers.

The performances will start at 22:30 in Alcazarof Jerez and the price will be 10€. The tickets can be bought in the Tourism Office in Arenal Square or in Alcazar of Jerez from 20:30.

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Andalusian Flamenco Centre

(Spanish language sound but the video shows the CAF's facilities)

The Andalusian Flamenco Centre (CAF, initials in Spanish) is located in Santiago neighbourhood, one of the most famous neighbourhood of Jerez, due to many famous artist of flamenco have been born there.

The Andalusian Flamenco Centre headquarters is situated in PemartinPalace which was built in the 15th century, and has a beautiful baroque patio.

Currently, the Andalusian Flamenco Centre is the biggest institution regarding to the quantity of documents about flamenco, and all of them are available to all people, researchers, students or fans.

Despite the work in documentation, CAF develops the diffusion and promotion of the flamenco activities that have been organized in Spain or in the rest of the world.

The CAF receives thousands of guided visits during all year, in which, besides knowing Jerez and the palace where is located the CAF, they are lucky to watch movies and documental about flamenco in the screening room or access to all the information that the centre has.

Furthermore, there are more activities that the Andalusian Flamenco Centre offers as courses, contests, festivals, scholarships, flamenco art exhibitions with photos and paintings, congress, conferences and meetings, performances in the patio...

Moreover, CAF's facilities provide two permanent exhibition rooms where are exhibited portraits of the most important flamenco artists and a collection of flamenco's lithography of the 19th and 20th centuries. Also, usually the centre has temporary exhibitions of photographs, sculptures and old guitars.

Other services that the Andalusian Flamenco Centre offers:

Library: currently has 4,200 volumes which are classified in four thematic blocks, Flamenco, gypsies, Andalusia and other references. The specific monographs about flamenco are around 1,700 volumes which are virtually all of the bibliography about flamenco that exists around the world.

Newspaper files: From 1992 the institution has this service which is available for all users. This way, visitors can read news, reports or interviews about flamenco from 1886, when was published the first magazine about flamenco.

Sound library: The institution has around 75,000 registers which are recorded in discs, cassettes, LPs etc.

Video library: The Andalusian Flamenco Centre has around 1,300 videos, which are films, TV shows, live performances etc. All of them can be watched in the centre's rooms.

Finally, Andalusian Flamenco Centre has a large directory in which users can look for information and data about flamenco clubs, festivals, plus links to websites and blogs about flamenco.

Contact, visit and location

Address: Plaza de San Juan, 1. Postal code 11403

Telephones:

(+34) 956 349265

(+34) 956 322711

(+34) 956 321602

Fax: (+34) 956 321127

Email: flamenco.ccd@juntadeandalucia.es

Facebook: Centro Andaluz de Flamenco

Schedule: Mondays to Fridays from 9am to 2pm

Free entry

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Circuit of Jerez Museum

The Circuit of Jerez has recently opened its museum with the aim of the motorcycle fans, sport fans or tourists can walk through the history of this important circuit.

The museum has many objects linked to the history of circuit and the racings that have been raced there. Between the pieces that museum offers, visitors can see some F1 cars as for example, F1 Williams-Honda FW11, F1 Renault R30 or F1 Arrows A-20. Also, many drivers have loaned their clothes and helmets as for instance, the motorcycle’s drivers Carlos Checa, Jorge Lorenzo, Lucio Cechinello, Dani Pedrosa, Marc Márquez or Valentino Rossi; and in the case of the F1’s drivers, Marc Gene, Jaime Algersuari, Lewis Hamilton, Alex Wurz, Sebastian Bourdais or David Coulthard.

There is a collection of historical trophies and tickets of the circuit. There are some motorcycles of Ducati, Ossa or Bultaco.

Finally, the museum has a Honda simulator in which visitors can feel the excitement of driving a Honda motorcycle.

At the end of the visit, there is big official shop where visitor can buy the official products of the Circuit of Jerez.

Visit

Schedule:

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. From 9am to 3pm

Prices:

Children under 7 years old: free entry

From 7 to 18 years old: 3€

Adults: 6€

Retirees and students: 3€

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Fundador Pedro Domecq Wineries

These wineries are the oldest of Jerez, having the origin in the 18th century. The Fundador wineries' are composed by the wineries San Pedro, El Castillo, El Molino, La Tribuna, La Luz and La Mezquita.

La Mezquita's winery is a colossal building and is one of the biggest wine cellar of world. It was inaugurated in 1974, with the aim of celebrating the centenary of first Spanish brandy, Fundador.

Visiting this winery is a mix between history, architecture, art and wines which in 2005 won the award to the best winery of world by International Wines & Spirits Competition

The Beam Group is composed by three important wineries Fundador Pedro Domecq which was founded in 1730, Harveys which was founded in 1796 and Terry which was founded in 1865 in El Puerto de Santa Maria.

This Group has important brands in the wine sector due to Harveys is one of the most consumed sherry wine in the world and it is sold in the five continent; Fundador, the first Spanish Brandy, and Terry is one of the most famous Brandies of Spain.

The visitor can know the history of the three most important brands of the group. Also the visit include a tour of the different wine cellars of the 18th and 19th centuries, specially El Molino wine cellar where is located one of the older wine of Jerez and signing in barrels of famous people like, Alexander Fleming or King Alfonso XIII.

The visit begins with a video which explains the history, visit and wine cellar, then, a tour of wineries and a tasting of wines and brandies of the wine cellar: Terry Fino, Harveys Bristol Cream, Fundador and Terry Centenario. Finally, visitor can buy souvenirs or gifts in the souvenirs shop of the winery.

Visit

The duration is approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Languages: Spanish and English. Other languages check.

Free Parking

The visitor can choose between some kinds of special visiting that can be consulted in the website or in the facilities

Price:

·         8€ visit+tasting

·         13€ visit+tasting+tapas

Schedules:

January, February, November and December:

·         From Mondays to Saturday 12:00, 13:00 and 14:00

From March to October:

·         From Mondays to Fridays 10:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00

·         Saturdays: 12:00, 13:00, 14:00

Special visit including La Mezquita wine cellar:

·         From Mondays to Fridays at 12:00

Special night visits: (July and August):

·         From Mondays to Fridays at 21:00 (Entry to Puerta de Rota)

Contact and location

Address: San Ildefonso, 3 Jerez de la Frontera

Telephone: 956 151 500

Web:  www.bodegasfundadorpedrodomecq.com

Email: visitas@bodegasfundadorpedrodomecq.com

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Pemartin Palace

This palace is also known as Palacio de los Marqueses de Mesa de Asta, and it is located in Plaza de San Juan (San Juan Square). The palace is headquarter of Andalusian Flamenco Centre.

Its construction began in the 15th century and its first owner was Alvar Lopez de Hinojosa who was politician of Jerez. Currently, the owner is the government of Andalusia, being the headquarter of the Andalusian Flamenco Centre where visitors can listen many disc and check out to biography and old data about this musical style. Also, there are daily projections of flamenco videos.

The palace has two floors. It highlights its Moorish decoration and stained glasses. The main door it is slightly to the left of the assembly of the facade.

Inside the building, there is a square patio that distributes the rooms of palace.

The Centro Andaluz del Flamenco (Andalusian Flamenco Centre) was founded in 1993 and is an Andalusian institution which has like aims the recovery, conservation, investigation and diffusion of flamenco.

The institution has plenty of material linked with flamenco: sound library with 15,000 recordings, videos, photos and library with 4,000 books.

Contact, visit and location

Address: Plaza de San Juan, 1. Postal code 11403

Telephones:

(+34) 956 349265

(+34) 956 322711

(+34) 956 321602

Fax: (+34) 956 321127

Email: flamenco.ccd@juntadeandalucia.es

Facebook: Centro Andaluz de Flamenco

Schedule: Mondays to Fridays from 9am to 2pm

Free entry

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Bullfighting museum

This museum is located in the city centre of the city and has a collection with many objects and artworks linked with bullfighting. Also, the museum has an important place dedicated to the breeding of bulls, very important in the outsides of Jerez.

The museum was built in an old wine cellar and conserved the typical structure of a winery.

Moreover, it is included in ticket, a tasting of typical tapas of the region.

Schedule: Monday to Saturday, from 10am to 2pm. Sundays closed, except reservation of groups.

Price: 2.40€ (with the price of the tasting included)

Address: Pozo del Olivar, 6

Telephone: 956 31 90 00

Website: www.alfonso-catering.com

Email: comercial@alfonso-catering.com

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Williams & Humbert Winery

Introduction

Williams & Humbert is a centenary winery which represents tradition and innovation in the sherry wine market sector.  The current winery was built during the 70's and is one of the most impressive and biggest wineries of the world which also has the National Award of Architecture. The winery is located in good place, next to the city centre of Jerez, and surrounded of gardens, being one of the most attractive and famous wineries of the region.

History

The wine cellar was founded in 1877 by Sir Alexander Williams and Arthur Humbert.

From the inauguration to nowadays, the winery conserve some wines and brandies which are keeping in oaks barrels of high quality. During the 60's, José Medina created his own winery and got success soon based in the international market. He and the Dutch multinational Royal Ahold bought Williams & Humbert, their last acquisition that is the brand of all their products.

Nowadays, the wineries are located in Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlucar de Barrameda. The headquarters is the biggest winery of Europe and also has vineyards and a distribution company (Sovisur). The company sells its products in 80 countries and during the last years has diversified its market through ham and cheese.

Visit

Visitors can admire the huge ageing winery with 1 kilometre long where there are around 60,000 American oak barrels that can be observed from the spiral stair. Also there is a sculpture of the Virgin Mary with a candle which is turned on all days by the employees to ask for good work day; and a car Ford B of the year 1930.

Furthermore, the visitors will visit the most important room of the wine cellar, the Gran Duque de Alba room, where there is a museum of wine. There are all the tools used during the manufacture of wine, most of them from 18th century.

One of the most singular facilities of the winery is the horse facilities. The wine cellar offers horses' spectacles during the visits.

During the facilities, visitors can see some barrels which have been signed by famous persons who have visited the wine cellar. As examples, the Beatles, the Kings of Spain or the Queen of United Kingdom.

Finally, visitors have a tasting and aperitifs in which can admire the products of the winery.

The duration of the visit is around one hour and half.

Schedules: from Mondays to Fridays 10, 12 and 13:30. Afternoons and feast days only with reservation.

Contact:

Telephone: 956 353 400

Mobile phone: 677 452 256

Email: visitas@williams-humbert.com

Website: http://www.williams-humbert.com/

Address: Carretera Nacional IV Km 641 Postal Code 11408 Jerez de la Frontera

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"Noches de Verano" (Summer nights)

"Summer nights" is an activity that is celebrated in Jerez for some years. During July and August, there will be many concert of flamenco, classical music, tango and other styles and activities that will take place in the Alcazar, St. Domingo cloister and Asuncionsquare.

(During the following days, this post will be updated with all the information about the concerts)

July

·         2^nd of July: (St. Domingo cloister) “Illusions” (Felipa del Moreno's recital) at 10pm. Felipa Medrano Lara (Known as Felipa del Moreno) is a flamenco singer of Jerez de la Frontera, who has worked in many places of the world. For instance, in London recorded a spectacle with the famous dancer Joaquín Cortes, and also has worked in the Mont-de-Marsan festival. She has a great voice and her artistic qualities are famous by the flamenco fans. The spectacle has been called "Illusions", because is the official presentation of her own recital as soloist and her illusion to develop it in her hometown, Jerez de la Frontera. The price is 10€ and the duration is 80 minutes.

·         3^rd of July: (St. Domingo cloister) “Las cartas a Julieta”(“The letters to Julieta “ ) of The New Costelas band at 10pm. This band born in 2012 of union of 5 friends by their admiration of contemporary musicians that have string quartet in their works. Letters to Julieta is a musical spectacle of The new Costelas band that will play one of the most singular works of the British singer Elvis Costello. The work is dedicated to an imaginary person called Julieta Capuleto through letters. This band provides a singular version with their women voices in a musical genre far of the traditional string quartet. The price is 7€ and the duration is 80 minutes.

·         4^th of July (Alcazar of Jerez) “Hispania pianissimo flamenco” of Manolo Carrasco at 9pm. Manolo Carrasco is composer, pianist and orchestra director who has won many of awards in Spain and France. He is the composer of the music of The Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art and has done some tours in Japan, China, United States, Europe and Spain. Manolo has 12 discos, 3 re-editions in Asia and 1 in United States. The price is 19€ and the duration is 80 minutes.

·         5^th of July (Alcazar of Jerez) God save the Queen (International Tribute to Queen) at 10pm. This spectacle is a tribute to the band Queen, its music and its leader Freddie Mercury. The spectacle uses the original choreography, costumes and videos, also has light panels and other scenery stuff. The price is 25€ and the duration is 80 minutes.

·         10^th of July (Alcazar of Jerez) 'Pasión Tango – Compañía el Despiole' (‘Tango Passion - the despiole Company') at 10pm. “Pasion Tango” is an spectacle that has all the expression of the Argentinean tango with the actuation of two of the best couples right now, the singing and the poetry interpreted by Martin Gatica and the music of “El Despiole” orchestra directed by Orlando Dibelo. The price is 15 or 20€ and the duration is 80 minutes.

·         11^th of July (Alcazar of Jerez) “Echándole lunares” Laura Gallego spectacle at 10pm. It is a spectacle that sounds as the traditional flamenco and remembers to La Paquera,   Antonio Mairena, Caracol, Camarón... who are considered the masters of flamenco. Laura will sing some songs of different types of flamenco. The price is 10 and 15€ and the duration is 80 minutes.

·         12^th of July (Alcazar of Jerez) "Llorando por Granada" (Crying for Granada), "Los Puntos" at 10pm. "Llorando por Granada, 40 años, la gira de Los Puntos" (Crying for Granada, 40 years, the tour of Los Puntos), at 10pm. "Los Puntos" was one of the more success bands of Spain during 70's. This pop band has achieved many successful songs which have been sung for many singers, some of them, contemporary. The price is 18€ and the duration is 80 minutes.

·         17^th of July (Alcazar of Jerez) “Big Band de Jerez” at 10pm. A Big Band is a spectacle in which is very important the improvisation. It is composed by a minimum of 15 members that play different styles of jazz, like Swing, Blues, Bebop, Cool, Fire Jazz... The "Big Band Jerez" is a group of musicians that play a varied repertoire of music in which intended to show the historical development of big bands, from 20's to the current fusions with other styles. The price is 12€ and the duration is 80 minutes.

·         18^th of July (Alcazar of Jerez) "Improvisao" ("improvised") the spectacle of Farruquito at 10pm. "Improvisao" ("improvised") the spectacle of Farruquito at 10pm. Farruquito is an important flamenco dancer of Spain who born inside of a famous family of artists. He has danced around the world and got many awards like the best artist of the big apple of 2001 by The New York Times. In this spectacle, Farruquito remembers his origin and all the things that he has learnt during his career. It is highly recommended to attend this spectacle because is one of the best flamenco dancers at this moment and his shows always have good reviews of flamenco experts. The prices are 23 and 25€ and the duration is 80 minutes.

·         19^th of July (Alcazar of Jerez) "La revirada- compañia Rea Danza" at 10pm. "La revirada" is a spectacle that has all the expression of the Argentinean tango which represents the development of the tango during different periods. The prices are 15 and 20€ and the duration is 75 minutes.

·         22^nd of July (Plaza de la Asuncion) "Soul Tribute" by The Dock at 10pm. The Dock honours to one of the most influential music ever, the soul of the 60's and 70's. This band offers a really big repertoire of the golden age of the "black music" as Otis Redding, Ray Charles, James Brown, Marvin Gaye…It is free entry and the duration is 60 minutes approximately.

·         25^th of July (St. Domingo cloister) Presentation of David Carpio disc which is called "Mi verdad" at 10pm. David Carpio is a flamenco singer from Jerez de la Frontera. David has wanted that his first disc shows that the classic flamenco sing is "more alive than ever" and due to this, he has decided that the presentation will be on live. The prices are 8 and 10€ and the duration is 80 minutes.

The information will be updated with the next spectacles and performances soon.

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‘De brindis con brandy de Jerez’ (A toast with brandy of Jerez)

It is a fair dedicated to brandy that it will celebrate between the 2^nd and 6^th of July, in Alameda Vieja (next to the Alcazar). This celebration is within of the program of Jerez European Wine City 2014.

The fair will have 16 stands (jaimas, Arab tents style) in which will develop many activities as, for instance, brandy tastings, show cocktails and show cookings, concerts, ice sculptures... Moreover, it will celebrate competitions of the best cocktail using brandy of Jerez, the best pairing and the best ice cream using brandy.

The fair will open the 2^nd of July at 8pm and the artist Nolasco will inaugurate at 11:30pm the concerts that will be celebrated during the fair. Next Thursday 3^rd will participate the band "Los mundos de Yupi" at 10pm and "Lucian y Regina Blue" at 12am. Friday 4^th of July will be developed other activities as "Performance brandy" and the performance of "DJ Residente".

The fair will be open from 5pm to 2am.

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"The Virgin Mary meditating", by Francisco Zurbarán returns to the Cathedral museum

The Jerez Cathedral has received "The Virgin Mary meditating" painting that is shown in the Cathedral museum. The painting was lent during 9 months to participate in two international expositions, in Italy and Belgium.

"The Catalogue of Zurbarán" was the title of the Italian exposition which collected around 50 paintings of the most important museums of Europe as, the Prado, Louvre or The National Gallery of London; and also, some paintings of Andalusia as "The Virgin Mary meditating".

The painting is one of the jewels of the Cathedral museum and it is an important work of the Spanish Baroque. Zurbarán also has some works in the Charterhouse of Jerez.

Source: Diario de Jerez

http://www.diariodejerez.es/article/jerez/1794284/la/virgen/nina/meditando/zurbaran/vuelve/museo/la/catedral.html

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The St. Domingo Cloister gets 100,000 visitors in two years after the reopening

The St. Domingo Cloister had been closed during 12 years for the building's restoration. The reopening was 2 years ago and the building has been visited by 100,000 visitors.

During the restoration, the time limits were postponed and developed in different phases. The works had 106,100 work hours and an investment of 6, 5 millions of Euros.

Making the heart of the cultural activities in the Jerez centre was the objective to this building, and it was an aim that the city council got soon. Exhibitions, book presentations, meetings, conferences, concerts, civil weddings, private cocktail parties, dinners, fashion shows, flamenco ...... have been some of the activities that have been developed in the Cloister.

The cloister construction began in 1430 and was built over an old castle's walls (It could be a castle of the 12th century or 13th century). In fact, there is a horseshoe arch of the Islamic period that was discovered in last restoration. It was a slow construction, because in the 15th century only the ground floor was finished. The cloister was one of the most important cloister of Andalusia.

After the Mendizabal confiscation the monument was bought by many owners and currently the Jerez city council is the owner.

You can get more information of the Cloister and the St. Domingo church in the next link:

http://jereztourism.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/santo-domingo-church-and-cloister.html

Source: Diario de Jerez http://www.diariodejerez.es/article/jerez/1789994/los/claustros/alcanzan/los/visitantes/sus/dos/anos/vida.html

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Zoo and botanic garden of Jerez

The zoo and botanic garden of Jerez de la Frontera is located near to the city centre. It was inaugurated in 1892, in a garden zone, and it is one of the most ancient botanic garden of Spain, which has many singular centennial trees.

The botanic garden has 150 species of big size. It has to be highlighting the palm trees which are numerous and centennials. Although all of them are labelled, the trees and plants are mixed and spread in all the zoo facilities.

The zoo was dedicated at first to the Spain wildlife, but over the years it has acquired new species. Currently, the zoo has more than 1,300 animals of 200 different species; many of them are being reared in captivity in the zoo. Also, the zoo has a reptiles and amphibians exposition.

The zoo has a rest and picnic zone where the visitors can eat the food brought from home or bought in the zoo's restaurant.

Visit, contact and location

Schedules:

October to April: 10am to 6pm

May to September: 10am to 7pm

From 15th of September to 15th of June, the zoo will be closed Mondays.

Tickets:

Adults (from 14 ages): 9.30€

Children (from 2 ages): 6.20€

Older than 65 ages: 6.20€

Children under 2 ages: Free entry

Address: Madreselva street, Postal Code: 11408 Jerez de la Frontera

Telephone: (+ 34) 956 149 785

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Museos de la Atalaya

Museos de la Atalaya (Atalaya Museums)

The Atalaya Museums include the "Mystery of Jerez" as wine's museum and the "Palace of Time" as watches museum. In this cultural place is also celebrated conventions, meetings and cultural activities.

The Atalaya's facilities have large gardens, a neoclassical palace of Victorian style for the Palace of Time and an old winery for the Wine's Museum.

The Atalaya's gardens were designed according to the French landscaping of the 19th century, and have been declared as Spanish Property of Cultural Interest as historic gardens.

The watches museum (The Palace of Time) is considered as one of the higher value collection of Europe. It was inaugurated in 1976 with a 152 pieces inherited by Countess of Gavia. Currently the museum has 302 pieces.

In the museum is shown the watch making techniques of United Kingdom, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

Also, it has to be highlighting the architectural value of the building and the artworks of its interior.

Regarding to the Mystery of Jerez, it is located in an old winery and it is a multimedia museum and didactic centre where is shown the history of the Jerez's wine, the evolution and the social, cultural and economic impact. Principally, it includes the vineyards characteristics, the varieties of wine, the weather, the production system...

Visit, contact and location

Address: Cervantes, 3

Telephone: 956 182 100

Web: www.elmisteriodejerez.org

Email: info@elmisteriodejerez.org

Tickets: (Guided visit of 50 minutes)

Individual: 6€

Group: 5, 5€

Reduced: 3€ (Retirees, students and children)

Guided visit from Mondays to Fridays: 9:30- 10:30 - 11:30 - 12:30 - 13:15

(Afternoons and weekends, only for groups with advance booking)

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Imprescindibles de la tapa y el vino de Jerez (the essential of the tapa and the sherry wine)

From 5th to 15th of June is celebrating the route "Imprescindibles de la tapa y el vino de Jerez" (the essential of the tapa and the sherry wine) which is an initiative of the Consejo Regulador to encourage local consumption of sherry, linking it to the traditional tapas.

82 bars of Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar, offer their best tapa accompanied by the kind of wine that best accompanying it, at the unique price of 3€. Also, it is a competition in which the consumer can vote to the best combination.

Each bar presents only one tapa and wine to the competition which will finish the 15th of June when the Facebook account and the Official Website will close to count the votes and to proclaim the 30 "essential bars" of tapas. The winners will be included in the guide that the Consejo Regulador will edit.

In the Official Website you can find all the bars and the tapa that they offer, and also, the route and the current classification of participants.

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Archaeological Museum

The Archaeological Museum of Jerez is located next to The Riquelme Palace and San Mateo Church. The pieces which are exposed in the museum come from local deposits, the second larger in extension of Spain, which encompasses Jerez, the Guadalete River and some Neolithic, Phoenician and Roman deposits.

The museum was inaugurated in 1873 in the Ancient City Council. The museum currently is located in an 18th century palace which has the typical structure of the Baroque palaces of Jerez. The facilities are distributed between three courtyards.

Regarding the distribution of the museum, in the courtyard are pieces of the pre-Roman, Roman and Visigoth periods. The first room is dedicated to the geography of Jerez and surroundings, the second to the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods and the third is destined to the Copper Age.

The room number 4 is dedicated to the proto-history and the rooms number 4, 5 and 6 are destined to the Roman Empire. Also in the sixth room is located some pieces and information about the Visigoth period.

The seventh room is dedicated to the numismatics and the eighth and ninth rooms are destined to the Muslim and medieval periods.

Finally, the ninth room also has information and pieces of the 14th to 18th centuries.

The museum has some important pieces as the following: Greek Corinthian Helmet, unique in Spain which was found near the Charterhouse of Jerez; Belt's plaque engraved in the necropolis of Haza de la Torre, caliphate's bottle of the Muslim period; Roman portraits; coinages from 3rd century B.C to 19th century; and Spearheads and arrows of 2000 B.C.

Visit, location and contact:

Visit schedules:

From Tuesdays to Fridays: 10:00 am to 2:00pm and 4:00pm to 7:00pm.

Saturdays, Sundays, Feast days, Holly Week and Fair's week: 10:00 am to 2:00pm

Summer Schedule (From 15th of June to 15th September): From Tuesdays to Fridays, from 9:00 am to 2:30pm. Saturdays and Sundays, from 10:00 am to 2:30pm.

The Museum is closed all the Mondays of the year.

Price:

Adults: 5€

Reduced price: 1, 80€ (Retirees, students, groups)

Free entrance days:

First Sundays of each month, 28th of February, 18th of May, 24th of September, 9th of October, 23th of November and 6th of December.

Free audio guides in English, French and German

Address: Plaza del Mercado

Telephone: 956 14 95 61

Website: http://www.jerez.es/webs_municipales/museo/

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The Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art

The Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art

History

In 1973, The King Juan Carlos I awarded to Alvaro Domecq Romero the “Golden Horse” trophy, due to this, Alvaro Domecq performed his show "How the Andalusian Horses Dance", which liked to attendees. This show was the germ of the current foundation.

During the first phase, the school was developing under the managerial of Alvaro Domecq, but later, the Ministry of Tourism decided to get the managerial of the school purchasing "El recreo de las cadenas" to Abrantes's Duke. It began the construction of an arena with 1600 people capacity and 60 horseboxes.

In 1982 the Ministry gave the managerial to Governing Body under the charge of Cadiz Provincial Council, thus promoting re-launch national and international of the school.

From 1986 the Governing Body has achieved even its most optimistic expectations and providing all the financial, technical and personal requirements. In this year, the school acquired the stables of Pedro Domecq de la Riva with 35 Spanish breed horses, 19 horses-drawn carriages and their harnesses, some dating back of 1730.

In 1987, the King received in audience to the Governing Body and accepted the post of honorary President and conferring the title of 'Royal School' to the Institution.

The show "How the Andalusian Horses Dance" is considered the most famous and important event of this school, but there are other aspects which are regarded as equally, or even more important, for the Institution as, its role as a social and cultural vehicle for Andalusia and Spanish equestrian heritage, the selection and promotion of horses, maintaining the prestige of Spanish horsemanship, the breed of our Spanish horses and the Spanish traditions and culture.

“El recreo de las cadenas” (Palace)

The palace was built in the 19th century. It is eclectic style, attributed to Charles Garnier who is the author of the Opera of Paris and The Casino of Monte-Carlo.

It has two facades, the eastern which has the main features of the monumental baroque and French classicism, and the occidental, neoclassical style.

Regarding to the garden, it had a diversity of fruit trees, flowers, lakes, fountains and ponds; bridges and exotic animals. Currently, it has gardens with Indian trees and a central fountain.

The palace was ordered to build by the wine businessman Julián Pemartín y Laborde, due to this, his family shield is in the grating the gateway.

Later, the palace was acquired by the Duke of Abrantes.

In its interior exists a chapel that was used by the protestant community of Jerez in the 19^th century.

The palace is in the enclosure of The Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, so that the visit to the school includes the palace's visit.

Visits

The visit schedule is from 10:00 am to 2:00pm

There are 3 kinds of visit. The full tour, short tour and the carriage museum. Each one has a different price and duration, so you can visit the official website to look for the best option for you.

The show "How the Andalusian horses dance" is at 12:00 noon in the following days:

·         January to February: Thursdays

·         March-July: Tuesdays and Thursdays

·         August-September: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays

·         October-December: Tuesdays and Thursdays

Saturdays shows:

18^th January, 15th February, 1st March, 19th April, 3rd and 17th May, 14th June, 26th July, 16th August, 6th September, 11th October, 1st November and 6th December

The show has an approximately duration of 90 minutes.

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International Sherry Week

Between 2^nd and 8^th of June will be celebrate the International Sherry Week in Jerez de la Frontera. This event will organize activities of promotion and diffusion of the culture and the moderate consumption of the Sherry wine.

The International Sherry Week is the evolution of the World Sherry Day in which the last year was organized more than 300 events in only one day. These events are independents and they are organized by sherry's fans that use the International Sherry Week's platform to promote it.

This year has the particularity that the Regulatory Council of Sherry collaborated in the organization and also, this year, Jerez is the European Wine City so this event will achieve higher international participation and promotion.

Many national and international chefs support this International Sherry Week, as Frank Camorra (Australia), Ryo Sakai Ardoak (Japan), Hannes Desmedt y Helle Cattelein (Belgium).

If you are interested in the events, you can visit the official web site in which appears all the activities of this week.

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Montana Marquis's Palace

Montana Marquis's Palace 

(Domecq’s Palace)

The Palace of Montana's Marquis was during many years property of Domecq's Marquis and due to this, is also known as Domecq Palace.

It was ordered to build by the first Marquis of Montana, Antonio Cabezas de Aranda y Román. It was declared as Spanish Property of Cultural Interest and Spanish Historic-Artistic Monument.

The designer of the palace was Antonio Matías de Figueroa and the construction finished in 1778. After the death of the Montana Marquis, his wife gave the property to clerical government. Later, with the Mendizábal confiscation, the palace belonged to Juan Pedro Domecq Lembeve, and when he died to Juan Pedro de Aladro Domecq, and finally with his death, his wife sold the property to the brothers Domecq Núñez de Villavicencio.

It was built in the San Sebastián square, currently, Alameda Cristina, between San Juan de Dios's convent (not exist) and Santo Domingo church and cloister.

The building is baroque style, and presents a square plant, being its interior symmetric. The construction has two floor differentiated by hollows and cornices. On the top, other small floor with lower height and with hollows topped with grilles. Almost all the decoration is concentrated in the main facade which is composed by balconies and a main door made with noble materials.

The distribution in the interior has as a cornerstone, a yard of square form and at bottom an imperial stair. The rooms are distributed around this yard.

Visit, contact and location

Email: info@palaciodomecq.com
Telephone: 956 34 07 50

Address: Alameda Marqués de Casa Domecq, 8

Visits:

From April to October

Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:00 and 11:00

Saturdays at 12:00

The visit has 45 minutes of duration

Price: 8€ each person.

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Vinoble

Vinoble

The 8^th International Exhibition of Noble Wines will celebrate from 25^th to 27^th of May in its usual place, the Alcazar of Jerez. It is the only one dedicated exclusively to the fortified, dessert and natural sweet wines, and in its last edition, Vinoble was visited by 11,500 people approximately. (It is celebrated each 2 years)

Beside the official activities, it organizes others activities linked with this kind of wines, as for instance gastronomic activities. Also, the exhibitors have exclusive rooms where they carry out business, private tasting etc. This year, due to the proclamation of Jerez as European Wine City 2014, this event will have more importance.

In this exhibition, will take part 700 fortified, dessert and natural sweet wines of 13 countries. It will have 56 stands, 46 for Vinoble and others 10 for Gastrovinoble which is one of the novelties in this edition.

The Event's programming will have 18 wines' tasting and 3 round table. There are activities which have sold out all the tickets. There are others interesting activities as: The history of the German Wines of small manufacturers, route by a Osborne's wines of 18^th century, South Africa wines, Sauternes and an Italian representation.

This year, 11 Masters of Wines will participate, as example, Lisa Granik, Sarah Jane Evans, Pedro Ballesteros, Peter McCombie, Tim Atkin and Chris Donaldson.

Regarding to Gastrovinoble, the novelty this year, it will be the 25th and 26th of May. The chefs, Ricardo Costa, Ángel León, Marcos Morán and Dani García will participate in this event; all of them have one Michelin Guide Star. They will present their gastronomic proposals of pairing with noble wines. Furthermore, it will carry out others activities like: a tasting of Iberian Ham harmonized with five fortified wines, a show cooking of the Italian chef, Enrica Barni who will cook Italian dishes using Italian sweet wines, tasting cheeses of the Way of Santiago, a show cooking of Jonathan Kjølhede.

Tastings and panel discussions

Sunday 25^th of May:

·        11:00 Sicilia in its pure state: Marsala and Passito di Pantelleria, by Giovanni Giardina, IRVO Sicilia. Place: San Fernando

·         12:00 A walk by the fortified wines of the World, by Pedro Ballesteros MW. Place: La Mezquita

·         13:00 Four decades of Wehlener Sonnenuhr through the Martin Kerpen wines, by Martin Kerpen. Place: El Molino

·         18:00 The art of the amontillado: a draught from Paradise, by Jesús Barquín and Tim Atkin MW.

·         Place: La Mezquita

·         18:30 Denomination of Origin of Malaga: perspective about the raisining by Aurelio Molina Place: El Molino

·         19:30 Round Table: The British fever of sherry: true rebirth or flash in the pan?, by Sarah Jane Evans MW (moderator), César Saldaña, Margaret Rand and Peter McCombie. Place: La Mezquita

·         20:30 Flamenco & Sherry by Tio Pepe Place: Patio de Armas

Monday 26^th of May:

·         10:30 The perfect vintage: Oporto Vintage 2011, by Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto. Place: La Mezquita

·         11:30 The Pedro Ximenez, the jewel of Montilla-Moriles, by David Seijas and José Ignacio Santiago Place: El Molino

·         12:30 Round Table: valueing noble and fortified wines by Paz Ivison (moderator), Victor de la Serna, Andrés Proensa, Carlos González and José Luis Murcia. Place: La Mezquita

·         13:00 A current perspective of Tokaj wines, by Christopher Donaldson MW. Place: San Fernando

·         18:00 Vintage of Palos Cortados by Antonio Flores, González Byass. Place: La Mezquita

·         18:30 Italy from north to south, by Nicoletta Negrini. Place: San Fernando

·         19:30 Round Table: Flor, Solera & Caliza, by Álvaro Girón (moderator), Paco del Castillo and César Cánovas. Place: La Mezquita

Tuesday 27^th of May:

·         10:30 Osborne Rare Sherry Collection: the tasting of the thousand years, by Ignacio Lozano & Ivan Llanza, Osborne. Place: La Mezquita

·         11:00 Malvasías of Canary Islands, by Canarian Institute of Agrifood Quality. Place: El Molino

·         11:30 The sweet wines of local varieties of Georgia, by Lisa Granik MW. Place: San Fernando

·         12:30 Ageing and oxidation in Champagne, by Peter Liem. Place: La Mezquita

·         13:00 Fortified wines from South Africa, by Tim James, Grape South African wine pages. Place: El Molino

·         18:00 The sweet wines form Veneto, by Juancho Asenjo, elmundovino. Place: La Mezquita

·         19:00 Sauternes and Cadillac, by Sweet Bordeaux. Place: San Fernando

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