Zafra Única Route, from the Alcázar to the Pilar del Duque

What it is

It is one of the routes proposed by the town council, the most popular and the one that best sums up the town: a circular route through the old town that leaves from the alcázar of the Dukes of Feria and returns to it, passing the squares, the Jewish quarter, the gates in the wall and the convents. You do not need a guide; the tourist office on the Plaza de España gives you the map.

The route, stop by stop

It starts at the alcázar of the Dukes of Feria, from 1437, now a parador, and continues by the Puerta del Acebuche and the church of Santa Marina, with the kneeling sculpture of the Englishwoman Margaret Harrington. On Calle Sevilla are the Casa Grande, from 1601, which was the headquarters of Don Juan José de Austria in the war with Portugal, and the convent of Santa Clara, the Feria pantheon, which is now the Santa Clara Museum. Along Calle Fuente Grande you reach the convent of Santa Catalina, with Mudéjar coffered ceilings, and the hospital of Santiago, founded by the Feria family in 1438 on their first residence, with a Gothic doorway and a Mudéjar patio.

Then come the Plaza Grande and the Plaza Chica, joined by the Arquillo del Pan, and on Calle Boticas the Casa del Ajimez, from the 15th century, with its Mudéjar window. On Calle Jerez, the Puerta de Jerez, in the wall built between 1426 and 1449, with the Castilian foot carved on it. Along Calle Cestería you pass the Medina wine cellars, in an old tannery, the convent of El Rosario and the Puerta de Badajoz, now the Arco del Cubo. On Calle Tetuán, the hospital of San Ildefonso, on the house of Ruy López, and the Candelaria collegiate church with its nine Zurbaráns.

The route continues by the old synagogue on Calle San José, the Cristo del Pozo and the hospital of San Miguel, and goes outside the walls to San Benito and the Torre de San Francisco. Back inside, the Plazuela del Pilar Redondo with the town hall, Calle Gobernador with a house by Aníbal González, Calle Huelva, the Arco de San Antonio and, at the end, the Puerta de Palacio and the Pilar del Duque, a Gothic drinking trough facing the palace facade. If you have time to spare, the town council suggests going to the Recinto Ferial (fairground), where the Feria Regional del Campo Extremeño and the Feria Internacional Ganadera are held every year.

How to do it

It is a walk on foot with no big hills, a good part of it through the pedestrian zone of the centre. The town council does not publish a distance or duration; allow about two hours with stops, more if you go into the Santa Clara Museum or the collegiate church, or if you linger on the terraces of the Plaza Grande. The tourist office answers on 924 551 036 and suggests other routes: Mudéjar Zafra, Ducal Zafra, Bourgeois Zafra and a walk with Ruy López, the chess player. If you come by car, leave it in the car parks in the centre.