Let's now take a quick look at two squares, starting with the older. The small but exquisite Plaza de la Asunción unfolds in Gothic, Renaissance, and 1950-ish splendor, just up the hill from the cathedral. The square seems misnamed, as there is no church of the Asunción here. It does have one of the oldest churches in town, Saint Dionysius, behind the construction barrier at top right in the first picture. The former town hall (lower half of the same picture) is a Renaissance secular classic with its loggia within loggia.

Antiguo Cabildo  

The Antiguo Cabildo (old town hall) was the city council chamber when it was completed in 1575; by then, Andalusia had discovered the Italian Renaissance in a big way. Today it’s the library. This exquisite building shows two facades, each a jewel in its own right, including the double-arched Italian logia at left. The Plateresque facade features large statues of the mythical Hercules and the real Julius Caesar both of whom served in Andalusia. 

When this building went up, Spain was at its height – THE world power with land on every continent then known to Europeans. (At that time, Aborigines and Penguins didn't know about Spain either). But Spain's deficit was huge and gold from the Americas created massive inflation. Loans from foreigners kept afloat Spain’s Philip II for the second half of the 16th century. He turned out to be neither Hercules nor Caesar. Spain’s power and wealth soon faded and its intellectual life became third rate as the Inquisition strangled thought. 

Its architecture remains. 

At left is the sculpture that names the plaza (or was it named after the plaza itself?)

Central sculpture

At plaza center rises this 1952 pillar honoring the Assumption (Asunción), Mother Mary’s beam-me-up-Scottie moment, and includes a buffed Lord of the Touchdown at center. Statues of the apostles wrap around the column. Numeric graffiti at the base is its pièce de résistance. At least they matched the color of the Renaissance building behind it.

Church of Saint Dionysius

This 1457 work-in-progress is the church of Saint Dionysius, a Greek who served as pope while Rome still persecuted Christians. He became the town’s patron saint because on his feast day in 1264, King Alfonso the Wise took the town back from the Moors. 

The barriers kept us from seeing the baroque interior modified in the 18th century by Diego Antonio Díaz who had recently finished the nearby cathedral’s façade (and a whole lot of important work in Seville.) That renovation included moving the main altarpiece from the old Jesuit church in town. (Why the Jesuits would give up such a piece is puzzling as it would be nearly a half century before they would be kicked out of Spain.) 

This church is nearly as wide as the square. Its pointed arch door suggests the Mudejar influence. At left (insert) is the Torre de la Atalaya, a secular watch tower from the mid-fifteenth century that is physically attached to the church. Repairs here are likely to take a long time as archeology finds slow the work. Mañana!

Next, let's look at a more modern Jerez square that's more lively and now the center of town life (thanks to the buried parking deck and the bus lines that converge here.) It's called the Plaza del Arenal. Join us by clicking here.

Please join us in the following slide show to give Jerez de la Frontera the viewing it deserves by clicking here.

Jerez de la Frontera, Spain

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