Vejer Old Town, City Walls and Castle

Vejer keeps its 15th-century walled enclosure, irregular in layout to fit the hill and a little over 4 hectares, with walls between one and a half and two metres thick. Inside are the castle, the church of the Divino Salvador and a maze of whitewashed streets. You can walk it in a couple of hours and from the outside everything is free.

The arches and the towers

The four original gates survive. The Arco de la Segur, on the west side, dates from the end of the 15th century, from the time of the Catholic Monarchs; it takes its name from a marble relief inside it in the shape of an axe, or segur. The Arco de la Villa, to the east, was the main access, linked to the Cuesta de la Barca and the Concejo fountain, and is the only one that does not keep its original state; it opens onto the Plaza de España. The Arco de Sancho IV, to the north, faces Medina Sidonia and carries a Baroque coat of arms above; to get round the slope of Calle Corredera, the floor was lowered by almost two metres. The fourth is the Puerta Cerrada.

Two of the towers stand out. The Torre de la Corredera, from the 15th century, was used to communicate with Medina Sidonia by smoke signals. The Torre del Mayorazgo watched over the town and from it you can see the mouth of the Barbate, the Zahara coast and the natural park. It connects with the Casa del Mayorazgo, an 18th-century Baroque house which the tourism website now marks as temporarily closed.

The castle and the church

At the very top is the castle, from the 10th and 11th centuries, on an earlier Arab base. It has two courtyards; in the main one a cistern remains that collected rainwater, and its most valuable feature is the horseshoe-arched doorway framed in an alfiz. In the 14th century it was the residence of the Dukes of Medina Sidonia. It opens on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 to 14:00; the Culture Delegation gives information on 956 45 08 00.

Next to it, the church of the Divino Salvador was probably built on an old mosque. Its chancel is Gothic-Mudéjar from the 14th century and the extension is late 15th-century Gothic; the 17th-century high altarpiece is by Francisco de Villegas. To visit it, call 660 650 066.

More stops

Beside the wall, the former Conceptionist convent, founded in 1552, now houses the Municipal Museum of Customs and Traditions: it opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10:30 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00, and admission costs €1. Next to it, the Arco de las Monjas is a row of buttresses added after an 18th-century earthquake. Outside the enclosure, the Plaza de España, known as the Plaza de los Pescaítos, has its Sevillian-tile fountain from 1955 and the Town Hall.

How to explore it

Park outside the old town and enter through the Arco de la Segur. Continue to the church and the castle, go down to the Plaza de España by the Arco de la Villa and finish at the viewpoints. Cobbled streets and slopes: wear comfortable shoes. If you prefer a guide, the tourist office has the list of guided-tour companies. To sleep inside the old town, the Hotel Convento de San Francisco; to eat next to the wall, El Muro.