4-star Hotel / Parador

Llerena, situated in the south east corner of Extremadura in the Campiña Sur region of the province of Badajoz, is an immediately friendly and pleasing town with a rich monumental patrimony, the legacy of its glorious past. It makes a great base for exploring this part of Extremadura, the town having most faclities and a good number of bars and restaurants and its fair share of colourful fiestas. Home to the Moors, then the Grand Masters of the Order of Saint James of the Sword, and the Order of the Inquisition, the convents, churches and palaces in its old quarter are a mixture of Gothic, Mudejar and Baroque styles. A partly walled town of noble homes with a somewhat Portuguese look, its main attaction is the intensely white Plaza Mayor dominated by the C14th church of Nuestra Señora de la Granada - topped by two levels of graceful and airy arcades and finished with a brick Baroque bell tower. It all looks particularly stunning when illuminated at night. Amongst the monuments not to be missed are the Episcopal Palace with its magnificent Mudejar interior, the C16th Palacio de Los Zapatas and the Convent and Church of Santa Clara where there is a beautiful wooden statue of San Jerónimo by the great sculptor Juan Martínez Montañés. The nuns at the convent make delicious cakes and pastries, their forte being "corazónes" - nuns' hearts. Almost around every corner you will find some building of interest, including our hotel, built in the C19th and known as El Palacio de Doña Mariana. Llerena has been home to many illustrious figures, the most well known being one of Spain's greatest painters, Zurbarán - he was brought up here and stayed for fifteen years. There is a statue of him and a fountain designed by him in the Plaza Mayor and his original workshop was housed in the now Restaurante Zurbarán in the same square. Also on the list of the famous is Garcia López de Cärdenas , discoverer of the Grand Canyon!  

• Explore the town of Llerena.
• Visit Zafra (40 minutes) - the "belle" of lower Extremadura, with its Alcazar, C16th century Colegiata with nine paintings by Zurbarán in the retablo and the delightful squares of La Plaza Grande and La Plaza Chica. Don't miss out on the bodegas there, especially Bodega Medina which is a museum as well with its own little bull ring.
• Visit Jerez de Los Caballeros (one hour twenty minutes), town of conquistadors and discoverers, the "city of towers", its Castle of the Templars built over the Moorish alcazaba, its convents, palaces and Mudejar style churches and out of town the Dolmen del Toriñuelo. There is a wonderful procession here in Semana Santa.
• Visit Fregenal de La Sierra (south of Jerez de Los Caballeros), a pretty village full of hermitages and traditional holy places.
• Visit Fuente de Cantos (35minutes), birthplace of Zurbarán and home to the Zurbarán museum. Also well known for handmade leather boots and pottery!
• Visit Monesterio (35 minutes) in the Sierra de Tentudía - the "jamón" village - this is the place to buy your "pata negra" - the very best of Iberían ham! La Venta de Culebrín is supposed to have the best.
• The village celebrates an incredible "Día de Jamón" fiesta in the first week in September. While there don't miss the C13th century Monasterio de Tentudía.
• Drive south from Llerena into the beautiful, gently rolling area of the "dehesas" - the grazing grounds for the black Iberian pig (producing the best jamón in the world) - here they roam freely eating acorns which give that jamón the extra special taste.
• Visit La Mina de La Jayona ( fifteen minutes), declared a natural monument, in the beautiful Sierra de La Jayona with its olive groves. Near Fuente de Arco, La Mina of great ecological and geological interest is a disused iron mine dating back to Roman times, now open to the public.
• Visit the bodegas in Almendralejo (one hour), the capital of the wine growing area "Tierra de Barros" and sample and buy the now, internationally known excellent wines of La Ribera de Guadiana.
• Enjoy the local gastronomy - the superb jamón, chorizo and salchichón and dishes made with cuts of fresh pork - "presa", "secreto" "carrillera"..., migas ( breadcrumbs fried with garlic, peppers and pork), caldereta (lamb or kid stew), cocido or olla (chick pea and sausage stew) all kinds of game, tench and trout, wild mushrooms and wild asparagus and delicious cakes and puddings made with almonds, honey and eggs.