8/7/2019 al-Cntara

1/9

the al-Cantara Bridge.

al-QanTarah

8/7/2019 al-Cntara

2/9

Country Spain

Community Extremadura

ProvinceCceres

ComarcaTierra de Alc

ntara Government - MayorLuis Mario Muoz Nieto Area - Total552 km2 (213.1 sq mi) Elevation291 m(955 ft) Population (2009) - Total1,653 - Density3/km2 (7.8/sq mi)

DemonymAlcantareos

Time zoneCET WebsiteOfficial website

8/7/2019 al-Cntara

3/9

Alcntara is a municipality in theprovince ofCceres,Extremadura,Spain, on the

Tagus, nearPortugal.Thetoponym isfromthe

Arabic word al-QanTarah ()

meaning "thebridge".

8/7/2019 al-Cntara

4/9

History Archaeological findingshave attested human

presence in the area fromtheBronze Age;thefirsthistorical inhabitans weretheLusitanians,

followed bytheCelts, who camefromeastto thePyrenees.To this period, and to thefollowingRoman domination,belong remains ofseveralcastra (militarycamps), villas and thebridge

whic

h gives its nameto thecity.The Roman rulelasted fromthe2nd century BCto the5thcentury,

when they werereplaced bytheVisigoths.

8/7/2019 al-Cntara

5/9

In the8thcenturythe Arabsconquered theIberian peninsula, including Extremadura.In the

12thc

enturythe Muslim geographeral-Idrisidescribed thebridge as one ofthe world's

marvels.In the12th-13thcenturies Alcntara wasa frontiercity, devoted to military activities andanimal husbandry. Afterthecollapse oftheCaliphate ofCrdoba, itbelonged to severalIslamictaifas (pettykingdoms).

8/7/2019 al-Cntara

6/9

Ferdinand II ofLen occupied it in 1167, during his warsagainstPortugal,but laterthetown wasrecaptured bythe

Almohads.

TheChristian conquered it definitely in 1213 withAlfonso IXofLen.

In 1217 it was given to themilitaryorderofCalatrava.

Theyhoweverconsidered ittoo difficultto defend, and thusthefollowing yearthey werereplaced bytheOrderofSanJulian de Pereiro,a military ordercreated in 1156 and whichhad itsheadquarters on the Rio Cora and which latertook itsnamefrom Alcntara, wheretheyestablished.

Thecitymaintained itsstrategical importance until 1655,when Portugal wasfinallyseparated from Spain.

In 1807, during thePeninsularWar, it was occupied bytheFrenchtroops.

8/7/2019 al-Cntara

7/9

Alcntara lost all its importance in the19thcentury, when the order's properties were

secularized.Its depopulation washaltedonly in the1960s, when theelectriccompanyHidroelectrica Espaola builthere

several plants. However, itseconomy wasnotboosted, and thetown isstill part ofoneofthe less developed areas ofSpain.

8/7/2019 al-Cntara

8/9

TheOrderofAlcntara, a religious andmilitary order, wasestablished in 1176

here,fordefence againstthe Moors, andwassuppressed in 1835.

In 1499,PeterofAlcantara,teacherof

Theresa ofAvila,saint andF

ranciscanreformer, wasborn here.

8/7/2019 al-Cntara

9/9

References

Richard Stillwell,ed.Princeton

Encyclopedia of Classical Sites,1976:"Alcntara,Cceres, Spain"