Alcántara

For other uses, seeAlcantara (disambiguation).

Alcántara
Municipality
Convent of San Benito de Alcántara(16th century).
Coat of arms
Alcántara Location in Spain
Coordinates:39°43′20″N6°53′23″W
Country	Spain
Community	Extremadura
Province	Cáceres
Comarca	Tierra de Alcántara
Government
•Mayor	Luis Mario Muñoz Nieto
Area
• Total	552 km2(213 sq mi)
Elevation	291 m (955 ft)
Population (2018)
• Total	1,480
• Density	2.7/km2(6.9/sq mi)
Demonym	Alcantareños
Time zone	CET
Website	Official website

TheAlcántara Bridge.

Alcántarais a municipality in theprovince of Cáceres,Extremadura,Spain, on theTagus,nearPortugal.The toponym is from theArabicwordal-Qanṭarah(القنطرة) meaning "the bridge".

History

Archaeological findings have attested human presence in the area from theBronze Age;the first historical inhabitants were theLusitanians,followed by theCelts,who came from an area between centralIberiaand thePyrenees.To this period, and to the following Roman domination, belong the remains of severalcastra(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 theVisigoths.

In the 8th century, theMoorsconquered the Iberian Peninsula and called itAl-Andalus,ending four centuries of Visigothic presence in what is nowSpain,France,PortugalandGibraltar.In the 12th century, the Muslim geographeral-Idrisidescribed 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 theCaliphate of Córdoba,it belonged to several Islamictaifas(petty kingdoms).

Ferdinand II of Leónliberated Alcántara in 1167 during his wars againstPortugal,but the town was later recaptured by theAlmohads.The Christians conquered it permanently in 1213 withAlfonso IX of León.In 1217 it was given to the militaryorder 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 thePeninsular 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 companyHidroelectrica Espaňolabuilt several plants here. However, its economy was not boosted, and the town is still part of one of the less developed areas of Spain.

TheOrder 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,Peter of Alcántara,teacher ofTheresa of Ávila,saintandFranciscanreformer, was born here.

Main sights

• Alcántara Bridge,of six symmetrical arches, 194 m long and 71 m high, built in honour ofTrajanin 103-106. An inscription gives the name of the architect of the viaduct, C. Iulius Lacer.
• Convent ofSan 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 ofLos Remedios,of which only the Baroque Chapel remains

References

• Richard Stillwell, ed.Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites,1976:"Alcántara, Cáceres, Spain"

External links

• Alcántara BridgeatStructurae
• "Alcántara Bridge, Alcántara, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain".Archived fromthe originalon 2009-10-26.Retrieved2008-01-05.