Kilns were found in several areas of the
city like Melchor Puente, Olivar of Valencianos, and the ruins of a Roman villa
with a mosaic of Bacchus an enclave of Melchor Puente. The amphorae produced in
the current territory of Puerto Real were used to transport wine and salted
fish to other parts of the Roman Empire.
These amphorae still exist in remains found
from Rome to
Monte Testaccio.
There is also historical discussion
regarding the exact location of the historic Roman Port Royal enclave of the
Roman Portus Gaditanus.
The town as such was
founded on June 18 in 1483 for Charter Puebla de los Reyes Catolicos during the
military advance towards Cordova Granada. His intention was to give to the
crown a seaport in the Gulf
of Cadiz, as all the
ports in the region were under control of the nobility.
The new town was under the jurisdiction of
Jerez de la Frontera, where the fleet was stationed and it led to the
authorized displacement of 200 Jerez
inhabitants. They were compensated with farmland and sites where to build. A
year later the town hall was built and on October 8 of 1488, the Catholic Kings
decided to return to make the City of Port Royal
under Xerez after the latter's participation in the conquest of Ronda in 1485
and Malaga in
1487.
The city of Port Royal had
independence from Charles I in the year 1543 and Felipe II proclaimed the
population part of the crown in the year 1572. This becomes the largest Port in
Spain thanks to trade with
the Americas.
There were great times of both decadence and grandeur and much of the town was
destroyed by the French during the War of Independence successive epidemics and
the invasion of the Hundred Thousand Sons of St. Louis.
The Catholic Kings,
the founders of the city
Prehistoric and Ancient, the history of Port Royal
will begin with the foundation by the Catholic Monarchs whose archaeological
presence remains. The oldest, El Retamar, dating from the Neolithic period and
in the municipal districts the Roman period, where the area was an important
pottery manufacturer .
In 1856 saw the opening of the railroad of
Jerez-Trocadero in order to transport wine to the dock for sale to the
Trocadero across Europe, primarily England. It was the first railway
line in Andalusia.
In the late nineteenth century saw a flowering Puerto industrial real estate
through the creation of the hull dam by Antonio Lopez and Lopez in 1872.
The shipyards are of the same time period
and the introduction of new industries changed the face of Puerto Real.
On the deserted island of Puerto Real
there is a tide refuge called Trocadero which is named after a square in Paris after being the site of the victory of the hundred
thousand sons of St. Louis
in its battle against constitutionalists at the Battle of Trocadero. At present
all that remains of the castle
of San Luis is located
just south of the Puente Carranza.
Of interest is the man made channel constructed by the Spaniards to stop the
invading French artillery bombing Cadiz.
The civil war saw the end of this process
causing extensive damage to the villa, including the burning of the priory
church and the loss of many lives. The war continued to rage for many years
until the industry recovered.
A whole village disappeared next to the shipyard to become Matagorda industrial
land. After the end of military dictatorship, Port Royal became a democratic
council, which was the first to demand autonomy of Andalusia.
The successive crises of the shipbuilding industry from the eighties and the
more recent crisis of the auto industry has put sustained employment in these
industries at risk.
