Alcántara
Alcántara | ||
|---|---|---|
Convent of San Benito de Alcántara (16th century). | ||
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Comarca Tierra de Alcántara | | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Luis Mario Muñoz Nieto | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 552 km2 (213 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 291 m (955 ft) | |
| Population (2018)[1] | ||
| • Total | 1,480 | |
| • Density | 2.7/km2 (6.9/sq mi) | |
| Demonym | Alcantareños | |
| Time zone | CET | |
| Website | Official website | |
Alcántara is a municipality in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain, on the Tagus, near Portugal. The toponym is from the Arabic word al-Qanṭarah (القنطرة) meaning "the bridge".
History
Archaeological findings have attested human presence in the area from the
Iberia and the Pyrenees. To this period, and to the following Roman domination, belong the remains of several castra (military camps), villas and the bridge which gives its name to the city. Roman rule lasted from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century, when they were replaced by the Visigoths
.
In the 8th century, the
al-Idrisi described the bridge as one of the wonders of the world. Alcántara was a frontier city in the 12th and 13th centuries, devoted to military activities and animal husbandry. After the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba, it belonged to several Islamic taifas
(petty kingdoms).
Almohads. The Christians conquered it permanently in 1213 with Alfonso IX of León. In 1217 it was given to the military order of Calatrava. They, however, considered it too difficult to defend, and thus the following year they were replaced by the Order of San Julian de Pereiro, a military order created in 1156 which had its headquarters on the Rio Cora and which later took its name from Alcántara, where it was established. The city maintained its strategic importance until 1655. In 1807, during the Peninsular War
, it was occupied by French troops.
Alcántara lost all its importance in the 19th century when the order's properties were secularized. Its depopulation was halted only in the 1960s, when the electric company
Hidroelectrica Espaňola
built several plants here. However, its economy was not boosted, and the town is still part of one of the less developed areas of Spain.
The Order of Alcántara, a religious and military order, was established in the town in 1176 for defence against the Moors, and was suppressed in 1835.
In 1499,
Franciscan
reformer, was born here.
Main sights
- Alcántara Bridge, of six symmetrical arches, 194 m long and 71 m high, built in honour of Trajan in 103-106. An inscription gives the name of the architect of the viaduct, C. Iulius Lacer.
- Convent of San Benito de Alcántara (16th century)
- Church of Holy Mother of Almocobar (13th century)
- Remains of the Moorish walls, modified and restored in the Middle Ages
- Convent of St. Francis (15th-17th centuries)
- Convent of the Nuns of Los Remedios, of which only the Baroque Chapel remains
References
- ^ Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
- Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Alcántara, Cáceres, Spain"
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alcántara.
- Alcántara Bridge at Structurae
- "Alcántara Bridge, Alcántara, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain". Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
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