You will most probably enter the restaurant
through the Baroque portal & façade
of the historic Casa del Juzgado (there
are also two other entrances to be discovered).
A small part of this historic building is
still home to the Juzgado (Magistrates office)
although the majority is now privately owned
& houses the Jardin del Califa restaurant
& some of the rooms of the Hotel La
Casa del Califa. A listed monument the house
was built on a strategic site close to the
main medieval gate (Arco de la Villa) and
overlooking the valley. The original road
into Vejer (its origins may be Roman or
even Phoenecian) arrives at the foot of
the garden wall. Both merchants and invadors
have used this strategic route even as late
as the 1930’s when Nationalist forces
used the house as stables for their horses
and billetting for their soldiers. The Barbate
river is just a 15 minute walk away from
here and until the early 1900’s the
river was still a major artery for transporting
people and goods.
 The
Moors were the dominant culture in Vejer
between 711 and 1264 and they continued
to play an important part in Vejer’s
history until the late 1400’s. Although
the majority of the building as we see
it today dates back to the late 15th.
& early 16th.C. we know that a much
older building stood on this site &
both the last stretch of stairway carved
through the rock & the impressive
Aljibe (Arabe word for ‘well’
or ‘cistern’) date back to
at least the Moorish times. Take time
to have a look at the inside of the Aljibe
(at the back of the building). Traditionally
the Algibe was used a ‘cistern’
for water storage filling up from the
rooves of its own & perhaps nearby
buildings. The Algibe is probably 11th-12th.C
but could be even earlier. Vejer relied
almost exclusively on its Algibes (almost
all houses in the old quarter have one
& there are 7 located on the site
of the Hotel & Restaurant buildings,
two are still in use).
The current building was erected by the
local diocese in the late 15th /early
16th C. as a grain store (Cilla) &
administrative quarters and was opened
for use in 1527. It was here that tradesmen,
farmers & dealers congregated as almost
all the local grains, wool & farm
produce passed through the hands of the
church to be weighed, measured, bagged
up & priced before being sent off
to market (the church of course taking
its share). Produce entered & left
Vejer through the garden & was stored
in the 3 barrel vaulted chambres that
make up the interior of the building.
Today the 3 chambers contain (separately)
the Bar, the Temple dining area &
the kitchen.
Looking from the garden up you will see
that the top storey is an addition from
the 1960’s. The next floor down
is the entrance level off the Plaza &
contains the Juzgado & entrance to
the restaurant. The next floor down were
administrative quarters for the Diocese
de Cádiz. If you stay in either
the ‘Limon’ or ‘Sol’
rooms of the hotel you will appreciate
the fine cross vaulted ceilings. These
post date the original building &
were probably added (along with the main
ornamental façade) in the 17th.C.
Due to its links with the religous community
there is a popular belief in Vejer that
the Inquisition had its headquarters here
(indeed many people refer to the house
as the ‘Casa de la Inquisición’)
although there is no evidence to support
this theory. The main façade overlooking
the Plaza dates from the 17th C. but the
building possibly suffered damage during
the earthquake of 1775 and many ornamental
features have been lost. In 1785 the Diocese
opened up the Cilla Nueva (the New Grain
store) & the building was sold off.
Its history since then is vague &
other than references to it being used
as an illegal ‘matadero’ (abbatoir)
– the black streaks on the barrel
roof show remains of fires being burnt
here for the preparation of chorizos &
morcilla sausages perhaps – we know
little about the house. During the Civil
War the Nationalist forces used the house
as stables for their horses and billetting
for their soldiers - while restoring the
chambers the last of the rotten horse
troughs were removed. The last person
to use the house for commercial purposes
was Juan Manzorro who had a carpentry
workshop on the second floor (Juan is
ironically now the owner of the Cilla
Nueva – see above - where he founded
a large nightclub – the Discoteca
Bekkeh).
In the 1950’s, a large window in
the façade at street level was
replaced by the door that is the current
entrance into the offices of the Juzgado.
Currently we are waiting for funds from
the regional governemnt to pay for the
restoration of the ornamental façade,
one of Vejers most famous landmarks...
JS. MMII
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