Zarza la Mayor (Zarza la Mayor)
Zarza la Mayor is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2006 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 1488 inhabitants. This is the most occidental municipality in "Las Vegas de Alagón" region. It is the only municipality in the region that borders with Portugal.
It is located 4 km in a straight line to Salvaterra do Extremo. The EX-117 road from Moraleja to Alcantara pass through Zarza la Mayor.
This municipality was especially important during Iberic Peninsula Moorish invasion. It can be seen today due to the strongholds present like Racha-Rachel (or Peñafiel, as it was called later by Christians) and Bernardo Castle (Castillo de Bernardo). After the Spanish 'reconquista', due that the conquested areas were left with no population to take care of the land, the military order of Alcantara created an 'Encomienda' (or to assign an area to landlords to take care of it) called 'Encomienda de Peñafiel y la Çarça'.
It was appointed as a Villa in 1356. During the 16th century the villa had a golden age that stopped suddenly when Portuguese Restoration War started.
The inhabitants of Zarza la Mayor were exiled by the Portuguese troops between 1665 and 1668. People returned between 1705 and 1713 during the War of the Spanish Succession.
Due to its complex history, Zarza la Mayor is a place were a number of monuments can be seen as San Andrés Apóstol church that was declared Conjunto histórico in 1982, and other chapels and castles.
It is located 4 km in a straight line to Salvaterra do Extremo. The EX-117 road from Moraleja to Alcantara pass through Zarza la Mayor.
This municipality was especially important during Iberic Peninsula Moorish invasion. It can be seen today due to the strongholds present like Racha-Rachel (or Peñafiel, as it was called later by Christians) and Bernardo Castle (Castillo de Bernardo). After the Spanish 'reconquista', due that the conquested areas were left with no population to take care of the land, the military order of Alcantara created an 'Encomienda' (or to assign an area to landlords to take care of it) called 'Encomienda de Peñafiel y la Çarça'.
It was appointed as a Villa in 1356. During the 16th century the villa had a golden age that stopped suddenly when Portuguese Restoration War started.
The inhabitants of Zarza la Mayor were exiled by the Portuguese troops between 1665 and 1668. People returned between 1705 and 1713 during the War of the Spanish Succession.
Due to its complex history, Zarza la Mayor is a place were a number of monuments can be seen as San Andrés Apóstol church that was declared Conjunto histórico in 1982, and other chapels and castles.
Map - Zarza la Mayor (Zarza la Mayor)
Map
Country - Spain
Flag of Spain |
Anatomically modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 42,000 years ago. The ancient Iberian and Celtic tribes, along with other pre-Roman peoples, dwelled the territory maintaining contacts with foreign Mediterranean cultures. The Roman conquest and colonization of the peninsula (Hispania) ensued, bringing the Romanization of the population. Receding of Western Roman imperial authority ushered in the migration of different non-Roman peoples from Central and Northern Europe with the Visigoths as the dominant power in the peninsula by the fifth century. In the early eighth century, most of the peninsula was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate, and during early Islamic rule, Al-Andalus became a dominant peninsular power centered in Córdoba. Several Christian kingdoms emerged in Northern Iberia, chief among them León, Castile, Aragon, Portugal, and Navarre made an intermittent southward military expansion, known as Reconquista, repelling the Islamic rule in Iberia, which culminated with the Christian seizure of the Emirate of Granada in 1492. Jews and Muslims were forced to choose between conversion to Catholicism or expulsion, and eventually the converts were expelled through different royal decrees.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
EUR | Euro | € | 2 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
EU | Basque language |
CA | Catalan language |
GL | Galician language |
OC | Occitan language |
ES | Spanish language |