Jérez del Marquesado is located in the Marquesado del Zenete, one of most elevated high plateaus of the Iberian Peninsula, with an average altitude superior to the thousand meters.
The first settlers of Jérez del Marquesado belonged to the Culture of the Argar. The oldest rests found are from the Neolithic period, in the Peñon of Alrutan, where Iberian vestiges of the III a.C century have also been found. Its past, mainly Arab, is present in its winding streets and of squares of large windows and balconies decorated with flowered geraniums, where the parochial church, of the century XVI, in Mudejar style, and the rests of an Arab castle, of which several towers are conserved, stand out.
Located in the Sierra Nevada Natural Park, its district has landscapes of great beauty. The refuge High Postero, located at 1,880 meters of altitude is the departure point for high mountain excursions in Sierra Nevada. Of smaller difficulty is the footpath that takes to the mines of Santa Constanza and to the Mill of the Regas. The stroll to the recreational area of the Tizná, located 12 kilometres away of the population centre, in the Alcazar Ravine, is also advisable. You can access to it by a forest track surrounded by chestnuts.
Jérez del Marquesado is famous by its bull fights and encierros.
Jérez de Marquesado was raised over a previous settlement called Mecina, place that was related with the abundance of water duet to the fact that from the XII century and during some time it had several public baths and besides it supplied Guadix. At that time it was called Xeris, it cultivated mainly the grapevine and it was a farmhouse quite populated and fertile. A fortress was also built for the cadí (judge) of Wadias (Guadix), which used to be occupied as summer residence. In this place part of the accitanos who escaped fled after the conquest of the city took refuge. Later it suffered the consequences of the repression and expulsion that followed the Moorish rise. Afterwards it was repopulated with Gallegos, Asturian, Castilian and Leoneses.
Among the outstanding dishes of the gastronomy of the region are the rin ran of cod, the migas of bread and flour with papas and the pot of beans. Its sausages and jams can also be tasted, depending of the time of the year.
© Patronato Provincial de Turismo de Granada I Diputación de Granada
