Plaza de España and the church of San Miguel Arcángel

Plaza de España is the living room of Jerez de los Caballeros: people meet here, have a drink on the terraces and many walks around the old town begin. It is presided over by the church of San Miguel Arcángel, whose tower is one of the four that give Jerez its nickname of city of towers.

The square

It is at the west exit of the walled enclosure, just where the Villa gate opens, the most important of the Templar wall, with its semicircular granite arch and its ramped, bent passage. Turismo de Extremadura also lists in the square the old town hall buildings among the city's historic buildings. It is the usual meeting point: the Tour Extremadura guided visit leaves from here.

The church of San Miguel Arcángel

It was begun in the mid-15th century and its construction dragged on until the 18th, which is why it mixes Gothic and Baroque. One of its doorways keeps the original Gothic. What you see most is the brick and glazed-clay tower, which peeks out from almost anywhere in Jerez. Like those of San Bartolomé and Santa Catalina, it is a Baroque belfry built after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which damaged the old towers.

Inside, the tourist office highlights the altarpieces, the frescoes and the dome. During Holy Week, of National Tourist Interest, San Miguel is one of the four parishes from which the floats set out and to which they return.

How to visit

The square is free at any hour. The church is a parish and is visited outside services; no hours are published, so ask at the tourist office, on 924 730 372. Respect worship: silence, suitable clothing and no flash. Allow half an hour for the square and the church. With a dog, the square is fine; the church does not allow them.

What to combine

The square is the natural end of the circuit of the wall by its gates that the tourist office proposes: you start at the Burgos gate, climb to the Templar alcazaba and come down through the Villa gate to here. A few minutes away are the Museum of Sacred Art and the Vasco Núñez de Balboa House Museum.

If you come in July, the square and the streets of the centre fill up during the Templar Festival. The rest of the year it is a quiet place to stop mid-morning, with the San Miguel tower above.