• Sanlúcar de Barrameda was founded by the Tartessians.

• In the 8th century, the Normans entered the city along the Guadalquivir river and continued all the way
to Seville.
• Also important was the presence of the Arabs, who called it Al Mars al-wadi, which means "river port".
• The city was conquered by King Alfonso X in the 13th century. King Sancho IV gave it to Alonso Pérez
de Guzmán as a reward for his role in the defence of Tarifa. During this time, Sanlúcar enjoyed a great
economic boom, as it was one of the most important trading centres. It was later proclaimed the seat of
the Military Headquarters of the Ocean Sea, and the Fleet of the Indies settled there. The Pérez de
Guzmán were lords of the city until 1646, year when it was incorporated into the Crown of Castile. It
was then that a period of decadence began, due to the decline in sea traffic.
• The city did not recover from this until the 18th century, and then it was thanks to Godoy, a favourite of
King Carlos IV.
• At the beginning of the 19th century, the city became the capital of the province of Cadiz, until the
political instabilities of 1808. In the second half of the 19th century, agriculture began to develop, with
the production of manzanilla sherry. Nowadays, those wines hold the Denomination of Origin Jerez-
Xérès-Sherry and Manzanilla from Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
• Its historic quarter, which has been declared a Historic-Artistic site, shows traces of the city's medieval
past, as well as whitewashed houses with red tiled roofs. Here, the buildings are covered with
multicoloured tiles, the window and door-openings are framed and we begin to see entrance halls in the
houses, as well as a preference for gardens, flowers, and courtyards.
• Up the Belén hill we find Las Covachas (15th century). Among the churches, the church of La Merced
(17th century); the basilica of La Caridad, the church devoted to Sanlúcar's patron saint;

• Los Descalzas,

• the church of San Miguel

• and the church of Nuestra Señora de la O, must be mentioned.

 • Next to the Rota gate of Rota and the Plaza de La Paz, we can see the castle of
Santiago - a 15th-century fortress - the walls, the palace of Medina Sidonia and the
palace of Montpensier.

• Medina Sidonia´s The Residence of Dukes de Medina Sidonia is a

Palace magnificent construction of centuries XV to the
XVIII that it unites to his doubtless values the
Plaza de los Condes de presence of the important ducal file.
Niebla, s/n

There is a castle called Castillo the Santiago. We have a church that is: our
parish of the o. At Easter all the steps fall into this parish. Also here are very
good wines. In summer they celebrate the famous horse racing at the edge of
the beach and it's very nice to see the horses running along the shore.
•