imported>Thesofine: /* Main sights */ removed duplicate listing

2025-10-31T14:17:51Z

Main sights: removed duplicate listing

New page

{{Other uses|Alcantara (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Alcántara
| native_name =
| settlement_type = [[Municipalities of Spain|Municipality]]
| image_skyline = Alcántara City01.jpg
| imagesize =
| image_alt =
| image_caption = [[Convent of San Benito de Alcántara]] (16th century).
| image_flag =
| flag_size =
| flag_alt =
| image_shield = Escudo de Alcántara.svg
| shield_size =
| shield_alt =
| nickname =
| motto =
| pushpin_map = Spain
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Spain
| coordinates = {{coord|39|43|20|N|6|53|23|W|source:eswiki|display=inline}}
| coordinates_footnotes =
| subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name = {{flag|Spain}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[Autonomous communities of Spain|Community]]
| subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Extremadura}}
| subdivision_type2 = [[Provinces of Spain|Province]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[province of Cáceres|Cáceres]]
| subdivision_type3 = [[Comarcas of Extremadura|Comarca]]
| subdivision_name3 = Tierra de Alcántara
| established_title =
| established_date =
| leader_party =
| leader_title = [[Mayor]]
| leader_name = Luis Mario Muñoz Nieto
| area_footnotes =
| area_total_km2 = 552
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m = 291
| population_as_of = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
|population_footnotes = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
| population_total = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym = Alcantareños
| population_note =
| timezone1 = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| postal_code_type =
| postal_code = 10980
| area_code_type =
| area_code =
| website = {{official website|http://www.alcantara.es}}
| footnotes =
}}
[[File:Bridge Alcantara.JPG|thumb|235px|The [[Alcántara Bridge]].]]

'''Alcántara''' ({{IPA|es|alˈkan.ta.ɾa|lang|Pronunciation of Alcántara in Spanish.ogg}}) 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 [[Bronze Age]]; the first historical inhabitants were the [[Lusitanians]], followed by the [[Celtiberians|Celts]], who came from an area between central [[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 [[Moors]] conquered the Iberian Peninsula and called it [[Al-Andalus]], ending four centuries of Visigothic presence in what is now [[Spain]], [[France]], [[Portugal]] and [[Gibraltar]]. In the 12th century, the Muslim geographer [[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 [[taifa]]s (petty kingdoms).

[[Ferdinand II of León]] liberated Alcántara in 1167 during his wars against [[Portugal]], but the town was later recaptured by the [[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, [[Peter of Alcántara]], teacher of [[Theresa of Ávila]], [[saint]] and [[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 Santa María de Almocóvar, Alcántara]] (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

==See also==
* [[List of municipalities in Cáceres]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*[http://icarus.umkc.edu/sandbox/perseus/pecs/page.155.a.php Richard Stillwell, ed. ''Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites'', 1976:] "Alcántara, Cáceres, Spain"

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Structurae|id=20000521|title=Alcántara Bridge}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/jjescudero/ |title=Alcántara Bridge, Alcántara, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026213830/http://geocities.com/jjescudero/ |archivedate=2009-10-26 |url-status=dead |access-date=2008-01-05 }}

{{Municipalities in Cáceres}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcantara}}
[[Category:Municipalities in the Province of Cáceres]]

Alcántara - Revision history

imported>Thesofine: /* Main sights */ removed duplicate listing