CÁCERES

by Francisco Astudillo

LANDS OF HISTORY

The lands of Extremadura are steeped in history. The paintings in Maltravieso Cave are traces preserved of man in the earliest stages of mankind. There the Celts settled, and in the 1st Century, the proconsul Cayo Urbano Flaco founded one of the five most important colonies of what used to be Lusitania, which was later destroyed by the barbarians. After rebuilding it, the Arabs called it Quazri, from which the name Cáceres is derived, and built the walls which still stand today. In 1170, for a short time the Fratres de Cáceres (Friars of C.), the first members of the Order of St. James, took over the city. This turbulent period in history came to an end in 1227 when Cáceres became part of the Kingdom of Leon under the rule of Alfonso IX. But it is much later when Cáceres and its towns and villages partake in the great Hispanic exploit during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, viz. the Discovery of America.

CÁCERES: THE CITY

It lies 498 m above sea level, and its average temperature is 9.5 C in winter and 24.6 C in summer. It has around 68,000 inhabitants. Although the modern part has its merits because it is clean, well laid out and has a lovely park, it is the old area with its historic sights that will draw the visitor's attention since there are many palaces, churches and residential buildings which are perfectly preserved and turn this part into a real jewel of art, especially of the 15th and 16th c. But there are also older traces, such as the beautiful Carvajal Tower of the 13th c.

The curtain walls of this area date from the times of the Almohads and preserve some Roman sections. Twelve of the thirty towers protecting the enclosure still stand and especially outstanding are the ones called Redonda, del Púlpito, del Horno, de la Yerba, del Portigo and de Bujaco, without forgetting La Estrella Arch, the former Puerta Nueva or New Gate, which was built by Churriguera in the 18th c. A leisurely visit should be paid to the 15th c Las Cigüeñas House with its crenellated tower, the only one of the city built by royal privilege; Las Veletas House and its Baroque facade on the site of frontispiece; San Mateo, which used to be the main mosque and stands at the highest point of the city, with its Plateresque portal and richly decorated sepulchers; the so-called Casa del Sol (House of the Sun) of the 16th c, with its important facade and the coat-of-arms of the Solís family; the Palace of the Golfines de Abajo, which combines Gothic, Mudéjar and Plateresque and includes beautiful battlements along the facade, and after all those sights, Santa María Square, framed by suggestive architecture, such as a Gothic church, which was finished in the 16th c, where an impressive series of famous natives of Cáceres lie buried, immortalized by tombstones, statues and aristocratic coats-of arms. On the same square stands the Episcopal Palace with its Gothic and Renaissance facade, the Plateresque Ovando House and the Gothic Mayoralgo Palace. This complex of historic sights is further enhanced by other buildings and monuments in its flagstone streets: Los Espaderos Tower, El Socorro Arch, La Plata Tower, the Palace of the Golfines de Arriba, the home of the Sánchez Paredes family and that of the Pereros family, the so-called Casa del Mono (House of the Monkey), housing the Provincial Museum of Paintings, Sculpture. But not all the monuments remain inside the walls. Many more beautify today's Cáceres outside the walls: Godoy Palace, the Palace of the Duke of Abrantes, the Palace of La Isla, the homes of the Carvajales and Galarza families, the Church of Santiago, cradle of the order of the same name, where a magnificent reredos by Berruguete is found, Los Caballos House, which is today's Museum of Contemporary Art, San Francisco Monastery, the Mudéjar Hermitage of El Espíritu Santo and the Sanctuary of its Patron Saint, La Virgen de la Montaña, which towers over the city center.