Editing Cáceres, Spain (section)

==History==
Visitors can see remains from [[Prehistory|Prehistoric]], [[Middle Ages|medieval]] times, the [[Hispania|Roman occupation]], [[Moors|Moorish]] occupation and the [[Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain]]. Cáceres has four main areas to be explored: the historical quarter, the Jewish quarter, the modern center, and the outskirts.<ref name="Tourism web site">{{cite web|title=Cáceres regional tourism web site|url=http://www.turismocaceres.org/}}</ref>

===Prehistoric===
There have been settlements near Cáceres since prehistoric times. Evidence of this can be found in the caves of [[Maltravieso]] and [https://www.showcaves.com/english/es/caves/ElConejar.html El Conejar].<ref>{{cite web|title=Paper by Enrique CERRILLO CUENCA on the Conejar Cave|url=http://gredos.usal.es/jspui/bitstream/10366/70611/1/La_Cueva_de_El_Conejar_(Caceres)_avance_.pdf}}</ref> [[File:EntradaMaltravieso.JPG|thumb|left|Maltravieso Cave.]]The [[Cave of Maltravieso|Maltravieso Cave]] (discovered in 1956 by the academic and official chronicler of Cáceres Carlos Callejo) contains hundreds of paintings, including the world's oldest known [[cave painting]], a red hand stencil older than 67,000 years. This is 20,000 years before the known arrival of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' to Europe and therefore is believed to have been made by [[Neanderthals]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=D. L. Hoffmann |author2=C. D. Standish |author3=M. García-Diez |author4=P. B. Pettitt |author5=J. A. Milton |author6=J. Zilhão |author7=J. J. Alcolea-González |author8=P. Cantalejo-Duarte |author9=H. Collado |author10=R. de Balbín |author11=M. Lorblanchet |author12=J. Ramos-Muñoz |author13=G.-Ch. Weniger |author14=A. W. G. Pike |year=2018 |title=U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art |journal=Science |volume=359 |issue=6378 |pages=912–915 |doi=10.1126/science.aap7778|pmid=29472483 |bibcode=2018Sci...359..912H |doi-access=free |hdl=10498/21578 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> These paintings date to several of the [[Upper Paleolithic]] periods.

In the nearby [https://www.showcaves.com/english/es/caves/ElConejar.html El Conejar] cave, ceramics and lithic utensils have been found that date the occupation of the cave to the Ancient [[Neolithic]] (VI-V millennium BC); the possibility that the cave was occupied during the [[Epipalaeolithic|Epipaleolithic]] period should not be ruled out. Location of trepanned skulls and decorated ceramics suggest that the Maltravieso cave was also occupied during the [[Bronze Age]].<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2 June 2011 |archive-date=31 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831151902/http://maltravieso.rupestre.org/ |title=Web de Maltravieso |url=http://maltravieso.rupestre.org/}}<!-- auto-translated from Spanish by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>[http://www.uned.es/dpto-pha/extremadura/maltravieso/maltravieso.htm Maltravieso] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051113102429/http://www.uned.es/dpto-pha/extremadura/maltravieso/maltravieso.htm}} ''uned.es''</ref>

===Roman rule===
[[File:Cáceres - Estatua de Ceres en el Foro de los Balbos.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25| The Androgynous Genius, a Roman statue located in the Balbos Forum in Cáceres]]

The city was founded by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] in 25 [[Common Era|BCE]]. Cáceres as a city was founded as ''Castra Caecilia'' by [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius]] and started to gain importance as a strategic city under Roman occupation. Remains found in the city suggest that it was a thriving center as early as 25 BCE. Some remains of the first city walls built by the Romans in the 3rd and 4th centuries still exist, including one gateway, the ''Arco de Cristo''.

During the 1st century BCE the Romans settled in camps (''Castra Cecilia'' and ''Castra Servilia'') permanently around the hill where the ''Norba Caesarina'' colony would be located next to the important communications route that would later be known as ''Vía de la Plata''.

The old municipality of Aldea Moret, 2&nbsp;km to the southwest, is currently a neighborhood of the same name integrated into the city, around which two Roman archaeological sites can be seen: Cuarto Roble and El Junquillo. The signposted Vía de la Plata can be traveled south of the city. An excavated section in Valdesalor, where the road crosses the Salor River through a recently restored medieval bridge, occupies the place of an ancient Roman bridge, now lost.

After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], the city was occupied by the [[Visigoths]], until the [[Arab]]s conquered Cáceres in the 8th century. The city spent the next few centuries mostly under Arab rule, although power alternated several times between Moors and Christians. During this time, the Arabs rebuilt the city, including a wall, palaces, and various towers, including the Torre de Bujaco. Cáceres was reconquered by the Christians in the 13th century (1229).

During this period the city had an important [[Jew]]ish quarter: in the 15th century when the total population was 2,000, nearly 140 Jewish families lived in Cáceres. The Jewish population was expelled by [[Isabella I of Castile|Queen Isabel I (Isabella I) of Castile]] and [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Fernando II (Ferdinand II) of Aragon]] in 1492, but many remains of the Jewish presence of the period can still be seen today in the Barrio San Antonio.

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Cáceres - Monasterio de San Francisco el Real 30.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Monastery of San Francisco el Real, today integrated into the urban area but originally built outside the town in the 15th century.]]
Around the 5th century, the Visigoths devastated the Roman settlement, and until the 8th-9th century the city was not heard of again.
During the first centuries of the "[[Reconquista]]" (Reconquest), it was the Muslims, from [[North Africa]], who took advantage of the strategic place on which the primitive Roman colony was based as a military base to confront the Christian kingdoms of the north. Thus, in the year 1147 [[Abd al-Mu'min|Abd al-Mumin]] refounded the city on the Hispano-Roman and Visigoth remains. The current name of ''Vía de la Plata'' comes from Arabic, the name of the Roman road that linked [[Astorga, Spain|Astorga]] with [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]] (from the Arabic "''balata''" (road), from which the word "silver" was derived).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120104074410/http://celtiberia.net/articulo.asp?id=877 Vía de la Plata: etimología] ''celtiberia.net''</ref>

The Christian Reconquest of Cáceres occurred in 1229, the result of a long process that from the second half of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th century. During this period, which began in 1142 with the conquest of Coria, the [[Tagus|Tagus River]] marked an unstable border between Christians to the north and Muslims to the south. The [[kingdom of Castile]] partly ignored the possibilities of conquering this area; attempts to incorporate Cáceres came from the [[kingdom of Portugal]] and the [[kingdom of León]], which both wanted to expand their width in their southern expansions. The Portuguese [[Gerald the Fearless|Geraldo Sempavor]] conquered Cáceres in the mid-12th century in a campaign that began in 1165 and reached the entire center of present-day Extremadura, but an alliance between [[Ferdinand II of León]] and the [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohads]] gave the Leonese control of the town in 1170.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=de la Montaña Conchiña |first1=Juan Luis |last2=Clemente Ramos |first2=Julián |title="La Extremadura cristiana (1142-1230): ocupación del espacio y transformaciones socioeconómicas" |journal=Historia, Instituciones, Documentos (21) |date=1994 |volume=21 |issn=0210-7716 |pages=83–124}}</ref>

The [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohads]] carried out an expedition in 1174 in which they managed to regain control of Cáceres. Except for an attempted siege in 1183, the Leonese did not approach the Muslim town again until the 13th century. After the [[battle of Las Navas de Tolosa]] in 1212, the conquest of Alcántara took place in 1213, after which the Christians besieged Cáceres in 1218, 1222, 1223 and 1225, producing the definitive Reconquest on 23 April 1229. Although the conquest was led by Alfonso IX of León, becoming part of the Kingdom of León, the death of Alfonso IX in 1230 led to Cáceres becoming part of the [[Kingdom of Castile|Crown of Castile and León]].{{sfn|de la Montaña Conchiña|Clemente Ramos|1994|pp=83-124}}

[[File:Hospital de los Caballeros, Cáceres edited.JPG|thumb|upright=1.25| Hospital of the Knights, in the old town of Cáceres]]

The privileges of the reconquered town were granted by Alfonso IX and configured Cáceres as a royal town directly dependent on the Leonese Crown with no local government other than its own council. Through this jurisdiction, the Crown reserved a notable portion of land between those of the Order of Santiago and those of the [[Order of Alcántara]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Monterde García |first1=Juan Carlos |title="El sentido de la honra en los Fueros de Cáceres y Plasencia" |journal=Revista de Estudios Extremeños |date=2002 |volume=58 |issue=2 |issn=0210-2854 |pages=692–694}}</ref>

Cáceres flourished during the [[Reconquista]] and the [[Discovery of the Americas]], as influential Spanish families and nobles built homes and small palaces there, and many members of families from Extremadura participated in [[History of the Americas|voyages to the Americas]] where they made their fortunes.

In the 15th century, the city suffered from internal disputes among the nobility. The [[Catholic Monarchs of Spain|Catholic Monarchs]] issued several ordinances and provisions to try to pacify the local nobles; The most notable was issued by Isabel I (Isabella I) in 1477, during her stay in the town on the occasion of the [[War of the Castilian Succession]], whereby it was established that the twelve aldermen of the council would become perpetual. The prohibition of stately properties in this jurisdiction prevented the formation of a strong nobility, leaving the town governed by a mesocracy of agricultural knights.{{sfn| Monterde García |2002|pp=692-694}}

{{wide image|CaceresPanoramicaPlazaMayor.jpg|700px|border=yes|The Plaza Mayor with the Bujaco tower, the Púlpitos tower, the Herb tower and the town hall.}}The Old Town (''Parte Antigua'') still has its ancient walls; this part of town is also well known for its multitude of [[stork]]s' nests. The walls contain a [[Middle Ages|medieval]] town setting with no outward signs of modernity, which is why many television shows and films have been shot there.<ref>Europa Press (2 December 2016).{{cite web|title=El rodaje de Juego de Tronos llega al centro de Cáceres (English: Game of Thrones Production Comes to Caceres)|date=2 December 2016|url=http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/2903701/0/rodaje-juego-tronos-llega-caceres/|publisher=[[20 minutos]]|access-date=11 January 2017}}</ref><ref>Ortiz, C. (19 October 2011){{cite web|title=Vuelve a Cáceres el rodaje de la serie de TVE sobre Isabel la Católica (English:The production of TVE Series about Queen Isabella Returns to Caceres)|date=19 October 2011|url=http://www.elperiodicoextremadura.com/noticias/caceres/vuelve-caceres-rodaje-serie-tve-isabel-catolica_613295.html|publisher=El Periodico|access-date=11 January 2017}}</ref>
[[File:Spain-Cáceres-P1170512 (25893544255).jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Stork nests on rooftops are a common sight in Old Town Cáceres.]]

Cáceres was declared a [[World Heritage Site|World Heritage City]] by [[UNESCO]] in 1986<ref name="guard"/> because of the city's blend of [[Roman architecture|Roman]], [[Islamic architecture|Moorish]], Northern [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] and Italian [[Renaissance architecture]]. Thirty towers from the [[Al-Andalus|Islamic period]] still stand in Cáceres, of which the Torre del Bujaco is the most famous.

===Modern Age===
[[File:Palacio Provincial Caceres.JPG|thumb|upright=1.25|Cáceres Provincial Palace]]
During the War of the Communities of Castile, Caceres joined the rebel ranks. On 15 April 1522, the monarch granted amnesty to the city, with the exception of the most committed community members.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pérez |first1=Joseph |title=La revolución de las comunidades de Castilla (1520-1521) |date=1977 |publisher=Siglo XXI de España Editores |isbn=9788432302855}}</ref>

In 1653 the town of Cáceres, along with five other towns in the current autonomous community, acquired a joint vote in the [[Cortes Generales|Cortes of Castile]], giving rise to the purchase of the vote to the province of Extremadura, which in 1822 would be divided into those of Cáceres and Badajoz. Cáceres was represented in the Cortes of Madrid from 1660 to 1664 as part of said joint vote.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Martínez Díez |first1=Gonzalo |title="Extremadura: origen del nombre y formación de las dos provincias" |journal=Anuario de la Facultad de Derecho (2) |date=1983 |volume=59-119 |issn=0213-988X|pages=82–93}}</ref>

Until the 18th century, Cáceres was just another town among the many in Extremadura. In the [[Cadastre]] of Ensenada, carried out in Cáceres in 1753, it is indicated that only 1,698 families lived in the town itself. However, during the second half of the 18th century, the town began to grow, motivated by the arrival of both temporary and permanent foreign settlers, whose presence gave rise to the formation of a local [[bourgeoisie]] that until then did not exist due to the rural nature of the population. Starting in the mid-18th century, ranchers from the center of the peninsula, many of them from the Sierra de Cameros, began to settle in Extremadura, fleeing the crisis suffered by [[transhumance]]. Prominent textile merchants from Cameros and [[Catalonia]] also settled here.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hernández Bermejo |first1=M.A. |last2=Santillana Pérez |first2=M. |title=Ámbitos familiares y espacios de vida cotidiana de los cacereños que vinieron de lejos (ss. XVIII-XIX) |journal=. Norba. Revista de Historia |date=2010 |volume=23 |issn=0213-375X|pages=107–120}}</ref>

===Evolution from town to city===
[[File:Caceres - Ayuntamiento.JPG|thumb|upright=1.25|Cáceres City hall, located on the Plaza Mayor]]
In 1790 a decisive event occurred in the history of Cáceres that made it evolve over time from a simple town to a city with regional importance: [[Charles IV of Spain|Charles IV]] established there the headquarters of the Royal Court of Extremadura, the highest judicial body of the region.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Granjel |first1=Mercedes |title=Médicos y cirujanos en Extremadura a finales del siglo XVIII |journal=Dynamis |date=2002 |volume=Acta hispanica ad medicinae scientiarumque historiam illustrandam 21 |pages=151–187 |issn=0211-9536 |url=https://www.ugr.es/~dynamis/completo22/PDF/dyna-6.pdf}}</ref> Numerous officials and professionals from very different places in Spain began to settle in the town, which increased the weight of the local bourgeoisie. At the beginning of the 19th century, merchant neighborhoods could already be distinguished in the Old Town extramuros (outside the walls), with their houses located in the Plaza Mayor and in several streets in its surroundings such as Barrionuevo, Empedrada, Parras, Pintores and Santo Domingo.{{sfn| Hernández Bermejo|Santillana Pérez|2010|pp=107-120}}

The judiciary was not the only public sector that provided urban character at that time: the defective division into provinces of the Crown of Castile caused many enlightened people to demand the division of Extremadura into two provinces, which benefited Cáceres by establishing itself as the provincial capital. In 1810, the French tried to create the prefecture of Cáceres during the [[Peninsular War]], with limits similar to those of the current province. Ten years later and during the [[Trienio Liberal|Liberal Triennium]] in 1822 the province of Cáceres was created with its capital in this town.{{sfn|Martínez Díez |1983|pp=94-104}}

===Civil war===
[[File:Cáceres - Plaza de América y Cruz de los Caídos.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Plaza of América and Monumental Cross to the Civil War Fallen in Cáceres]]
In the [[Spanish Civil War]], the military forces of Cáceres supported the [[coup d'état]] of 1936. When the [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|rebel forces]] freed the [[Falangist Movement of Spain|Falangist]] Luna, he mobilized about a thousand sympathizers in the city and began to issue orders to occupy the principal surrounding towns, as well as the capture of the main strategic points such as the border points with Portugal, ports, and bridges. The repression by the [[Francoist Spain|Francoists]] began immediately, with the assassination of the director of Union and Labor, Pedro Montero Rubio, and the mayor of Cáceres Antonio Canales González, among others, a total of more than 600 people shot, about 220 during Christmas 1937. The constitutional governor and mayor were imprisoned and replaced by soldiers; the first, Ignacio Mateos Guija, was shot dead by Falangists and four relatives were thrown into the Tagus River, and the business run by his father was illegally confiscated.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Juliá Díaz |first1=Santos |title=Víctimas de la guerra civil |date=1999 |publisher=Temas de Hoy |isbn=84-7880-983-X |page=90}}</ref>

The uprising in Cáceres facilitated [[Francisco Franco|General Francisco Franco]]'s advance along the roads of Mérida and [[Badajoz]]. On 26 August 1936, General Franco arrived in Cáceres, where he established his headquarters before beginning the advance on Madrid. There he received his wife [[Carmen Polo|Carmen]] and his [[Carmen Franco, 1st Duchess of Franco|daughter]], whom he had not seen since the day of the [[Coup d'état|military coup d'état]]. Between 8 and 10 October 1936, and on the occasion of Franco's request for military aid to [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]], The first [[German tanks in World War II|Panzer I model battle tanks]] arrived at the Arguijuelas de Abajo and Arriba castles, which had arrived in [[Seville]] by boat. For several months, a training academy for armored vehicle drivers was established in the castles, directed by the German colonel [[Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma|Wilhelm von Thoma]]. Later the training academy was moved to Cubas de la Sagra, in the [[Community of Madrid|province of Madrid]] and its military equipment took part in combat near the Madrid fronts. The Cáceres airfield also had important air movements, from which the aircraft that attacked the [[Second Spanish Republic|Republican forces]] and the [[Condor Legion]] departed.<ref>{{cite web |title=La base alemana de carros de combate en las Arguijuelas, Cáceres (1936-1937) |url=http://www.chde.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1617:la-base-alemana-de-carros-de-combate-en-las-arguijuelas-caceres-1936-1937&catid=67:2008&Itemid=89 |publisher=Wayback Machine. chde.org |access-date=10 March 2012}}</ref>

One of the few reactions of the Republican forces was the bombing of the city on 23 July 1937. That day five [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] twin-engine [[Tupolev '102'|Tupolev aircraft]] under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Jaume Mata Romeu, of the Air Force of the Spanish Republic, which had taken off from the Los Llanos de Albacete airfield, dropped 18 bombs, which affected various buildings (such as the Mayorazgo Palace), the food market, Santa María, the back of the [[Civil Guard (Spain)|Civil Guard]] barracks, the town hall, and Nido and Sancti Espíritu streets, causing 35 deaths and numerous injuries.<ref>{{cite web |title=70 aniversario del Bombardeo de Cáceres 1937-2007 |url=http://bombardeocaceres.blogspot.com/}}</ref>