- Jerez de los Caballeros
Jerez de los Caballeros is a town of south-western
Spain , in the province ofBadajoz . It is situated on two heights overlooking the RiverArdila , a tributary of theGuadiana , 12 miles east of the Portuguese frontier. The old town is surrounded by aMoorish wall with six gates. The newer portion is well and regularly built, and planted with numerous orange and otherfruit tree s. Its staple trade is in agricultural produce, especially inham andbacon from the largeherd s ofswine which are reared in the surroundingoak forest s. The town is said to have been founded byAlfonso IX of Leon in1229 ; in1232 it was extended by his sonFerdinand III the Saint , who gave it to theKnights Templar . Hence the name Jerez de los Caballeros, Jerez of the Knights. It was also the birthplace of the explorers Hernando de Soto andVasco Núñez de Balboa .
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