Llerena

Under Arab rule the town was known as Ellerina, contested territory between Muslim and Christian forces. In 1243 Pelay Pérez Correa, Grand Master of the Order of Santiago and the man entrusted by Fernando III of Castile with the reconquest of Sierra Morena, took the town for good. From that point Llerena grew fast.

It became the habitual residence of the Masters of the Order of Santiago, then the seat of the Priory of San Marcos de León, displacing the previously dominant town of Reina. At its height it governed more than thirty surrounding towns and held the Mesa Maestral, the Order's chief administrative seat in Extremadura. In 1340 King Alfonso XI of Castile presided over the Cortes here.

In 1383 the General Chapter of the Order of Santiago met in Llerena under Pedro Fernández Cabeza de Vaca, with all the Order's commanders present. Several Masters left their mark on the town. Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa secured a licence for the San Mateo fair, built the Trinity chapel in the church of La Granada, and completed the Casa Maestral and the convent of Santa Elena.

Alonso de Cárdenas built the church of Santiago on the site of the old hermitage of San Pedro and added several of the main gates to the town walls. After the reconquest, repopulation came from Leonese, Cantabrian, and Basque families. A substantial Jewish community also established itself, and for a period Christians, Jews, and Muslims coexisted.

By the late 15th century there were 600 Jewish families living around the synagogue, now the hermitage of Santa Catalina, and the Fuente Pellejera. In 1479 the rabbi Rabí Mayr persuaded the Catholic Monarchs to lift the ban on Jews holding fairs and markets in Castile, which raised the town's economy and led to the founding of a school of translators. When the Edict of Expulsion was signed in 1492, 125 Jewish families stayed on as converts.

In 1508, partly through the influence of Luis Zapata de Chaves, counsellor to the Catholic Monarchs, the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition was established here, the third largest in Spain by jurisdiction, covering 42,260 square kilometres across the bishoprics of Ciudad Rodrigo, Plasencia, Coria, and Badajoz. It operated from three premises in the town and was not abolished until 1834. By the 16th century Llerena had seven convents and had become the second most populous town in Extremadura.

Llerena's historic centre was declared a protected artistic and historic ensemble on 29 December 1966. The standout monuments are the church of Nuestra Señora de la Granada, the Palacio de los Zapata, and the Plaza de España. The Plaza de España has served over the centuries as a bullring, a market, and a festival ground.

On its south side stands the church of Nuestra Señora de la Granada, its baroque façade distinguished by a two-storey arcaded balcony added to give views over the square. The church also has a notable brick tower; in 1979 a large quantity of human remains was discovered inside it. On the north side of the plaza is the Portal de la Casineta, known at various points as the Portal of the Shops, the Apothecaries, the Bread, or the Prison, a run of twelve whitewashed brick arches with stone columns, two floors of balconies and windows, and a continuous balustraded cornice.

The Ayuntamiento and the nine-arched Portal de Morales occupy the east side. The painter Francisco de Zurbarán lived in one of the houses in this area with his wife; a fountain he designed in 1617 stands nearby. The Convent of Santa Clara on Calle de la Corredera has a polygonal stone lattice mirador.

Inside its church is a carved figure of Saint Jerome by the sculptor Juan Martínez Montañés, along with mural paintings and baroque altarpieces. The Palacio de los Zapata, on the Plaza de la Inquisición, is a good example of noble architecture and was once the seat of the Inquisition. It has a mudéjar courtyard.

Llerena also lies on the Camino de la Frontera, a route leading to Santiago de Compostela.