Arcos de la Frontera

Arcos de la Frontera
Coat of Arms
Location
Location of Arcos de la Frontera
Coordinates : Time zone :
General information
Native name	Arcos de la Frontera (Spanish)
Spanish name	Arcos de la Frontera
Postal code	11630
Website	http://www.arcosdelafrontera.es/
Administration
Country	Spain
Autonomous Community	Andalusia
Province	Cádiz
Comarca	Sierra de Cádiz
Mayor	Josefa Caro Gamaza (PSOE)
Geography
Land Area	528 km²
Altitude	185 m AMSL
Population
Population	29.905 (2007)
Density	55,7 hab./km² (2007)

Arcos de la Frontera

Another view of Arcos de la Frontera

Arcos de la Frontera is a town in the province of Cádiz in southern Spain. It is located on the eastern bank of the Guadalete river, which flows to the Bay of Cadiz. The town commands a fine vista atop a sandstone ridge, from which the peak of San Cristobal and the Guadalete Valley can be seen. The town gained its name by being the frontier of Spain's 13th century battle with the Moors. ^[1]

History

There is local evidence that Stone Age cave-dwellers used rocks to form living chambers. Roman ruins also exist in the area. ^[1]

Arcos became an independent Moorish taifa in 1011 during the protracted collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba. Arcos was associated with the Jerez by Aben Jairuan who ruled c. 1040-1053. The region was overtaken by the Almoravid dynasty in 1091. From 1145 to 1147 the region of Arcos and Jerez was briefly a taifa under dependency of Grenada, led by Aben Garrum.

The town was a bulwark of Christianity after Alfonso the Wise of Castile (1252-1284) expelled the Moors. He constructed a Gothic cathedral which remains on its high ridge. It is famed for its ten bells, which tolled throughout the war with the Moors. Several Moorish banners were taken in the nearby battle of Zahara and have been on display in a church in Arcos since 1483.^[1]

The ruined citadel, the theatre, and the palace of the dukes of Arcos are other noteworthy buildings.^[1]

Geographic limits

• To the North: Espera and Bornos.
• To the South: San José del Valle and Algar.
• To the East: Prado del Rey and El Bosque.
• To the West: Jerez de la Frontera.

Demographics

Source: INE (Spain)

Monuments

• Castillo de Arcos (fifteenth-century castle)
• Iglesia Parroquial de Santa María de la Asunción (church built between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries)
• Convento de San Agustín (convent built between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries)
• Iglesia de San Pedro (church built between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries)
• Ayuntamiento (seventeenth-century city hall)
• Iglesia de San Francisco (church built between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries))
• Iglesia de la Caridad (church built between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries))

References

View from balcony

• M. Mancheiio y Olivares, Galeria de Arcobricenses illustres (Arcos, 1892)
• M. Mancheiio y Olivares, Riqueza y culture de Arcos de la Frontera (Arcos, 1898)
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Notes

External links

• (Spanish) Ayuntamiento de Arcos de la Frontera
• Old photographs of Arcos de la Frontera
• Satellite image from Google Local
• [www.stansted-airport-information.com/flights/stansted-to-jerez.aspx Jerez Airport]

A street in Arcos de la Frontera

Coordinates: 36°45′N 5°48′W / 36.75°N 5.8°W / 36.75; -5.8

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