Explorer Jerez de la Frontera

The Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art in Jerez trains horses and riders in classical Spanish horsemanship. It grew out of a horse show first staged by Álvaro Domecq Romero in 1973 and is based at the Recreo de las Cadenas, a 19th-century palace designed by Charles Garnier. Visitors see training sessions, the stables and two museums.

The Domecq Palace is an 18th-century Baroque town palace in Jerez, begun in 1775 for the first Marquis of Montana to designs by Juan Díaz de la Guerra, Antonio Matías de Figueroa and Pedro de Cos. The sherry-making Domecq family bought it in 1855. Audio-guided group visits lead through its marble patio and furnished rooms.

The Palace of Viceroy Laserna is a noble house in the old centre of Jerez, held by the same family since the 13th century and given its Neoclassical form in the 18th. It is named after José de la Serna, the last Spanish Viceroy of Peru and first Count of the Andes, who lived here. Guided tours show its furnished salons, paintings and garden.

Jerez Cathedral, dedicated to the Holy Saviour, was begun in 1695 as the town's collegiate church to plans by Diego Moreno Meléndez and became a cathedral in 1980. Gothic, Baroque and Neoclassical forms meet under a large dome beside a separate bell tower. Inside are a Virgin by Zurbarán and the Gothic crucifix known as the Cristo de la Viga.