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Information about Zamora (spain)

Zamora is a city in Castile-Leon, Spain, the capital of the province of Zamora. It lies on a rocky hill in the northwest, near the frontier with Portugal and crossed by the Duero river, which some 50km/30mi downstream reaches the Portuguese frontier. With its 24 Romanesque churches of the 12th and 13th centuries it has been called a "museum of Romanesque art".

Origins

Zamora was originally a Moorish foundation, and during the fighting between Christians and Moors it was the scene of many fierce engagements, reflected in the Spanish national epic, the "Cantar de mio Cid".

The name Zamora comes from the Gothic "Semura" or from the Arab "Azemur" and "Semurah". The foundation of the city, however, was by Rome, with the name of Occelum Durii or Ocellodurum (the Duero Eye), in the days when the Lusitanian hero Viriathus fought the Roman invasion. At Roman conquest, it was in the hands of the Vaccaei, and was incorporated into the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis. It was on the road from Emerita (modern Mérida) to Asturica Augusta (modern Astorga). (Ant. Itin. pp. 434, 439).

During the Medieval Age, Zamora was taken by the Arabs and by the Christians successively (from the Arab invasions in the early years of the 8th century to the last years of the 11th), and it was fortified.

Henry IV granted Zamora the epithet of "most noble and most loyal city".

History

Enlarge picture
Historical bridge over river Duero in Zamora
The most important historic episode took place when the city gained an extraordinary relevance after the death of Ferdinand I of Castile who called it the "well fortified city of Zamora" (or "la bien cercada" in Spanish) and bequeathed it to his daughter Doña Urraca. Her brother Sancho II of Castile trying to reunify the kingdom against his siblings, lay siege to Zamora, which was the possession of his sister Urraca. King Sancho II was treacherously murdered by Bellido Dolfos while besieging the town, causing Castile to fall to his brother Alfonso. The event was commemorated by the Portillo de la Traición (Treason Gate). Zamora was also the scene of fierce fighting in the 15th century, during the conflict between the supporters of Isabella the Catholic and Juana la Beltraneja.

Enlarge picture
Zamora and river Duero
During the 12th century, the city was extraordinarily important for its strategic position in the wars between Christians and Arabs to conquer the Iberian Peninsula. As a result, the city preserves many churches and buildings from that time. In the next centuries, the city lost its political and economic relevance and suffered emigration, especially to South America (who founded many other cities called Zamora).

Population

It has about 67,164 inhabitants, a number which is decreasing owing to lack of investment in the region.

Climate



Zamora enjoys a continental mediterranean climate, with cold winters and hot summers. Precipitation is mainly recorded in two seasons, spring and autumn, being summer characterized by draughts. The highest temperature ever recorded is 41.0ºC on July 24, 1995 while the minimum stood at -13.4ºC on January 16, 1945.

The frequent fog in winter is worth of mention, persisting for days and having a negative impact on the average temperature.

Notable locals

  • Leopoldo Alas y Ureña, also known as "Clarín" was a Spanish novelist born in Zamora. A street in Zamora is named after him.
  • Angel Nieto: multi-time (or '12+1' as he puts it himself) Grand Prix motorcycle roadracing World Champion. He is considered a national hero in his Spanish homeland. The local sports centre is named after him. Some sources mistakenly refer to him as being born in Madrid.
  • Agustín Remesal: Journalist working as a TVE correspondent. Also writer.
  • Ramón Álvarez: Born in Zamora. Author of many of the figures or 'pasos' carried through its streets during the Holy Week.
  • Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as El Cid Campeador. The legendary nobleman, though born in Burgos, spent some time in the town at the service of king Sancho II of Castile.

Tourism in Zamora

Main article: Places of interest in Zamora


Zamora town
  • Cathedral of Zamora, Spain: Romanesque dating back to the 12th century, taking only 23 years to build.
  • Castle of Zamora, Spain: Built in the Middle Ages, offering magnificent views of the city.
  • Parador de Zamora: The Palacio de los Condes de Alba y Aliste was built in 1459 by the first count of Alba y Aliste. Boasts a magnificent patio and staircase decorated with lombardy carvings.
  • Calle Balborraz: Europa Nostra Prize.
  • Magdalena church: The southern facade is Romanesque dating back to the 13th century;
  • San Claudio de Olivares church (12th century carvings on the columns);
  • San Juan de Puerta Nueva church (12th century stained glass circular window, symbol of Zamora);
  • Santa María la Nueva church (12th century, baptism chapel dating back to the 13th century).
  • Santiago de los Caballeros church (12th century, simple Romanesque style)
  • Santiago El Burgo church (Southern facade, 12th century Romanesque)
  • City wall: three walled enclosures dating back to the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.
  • Museo de Semana Santa de Zamora: Opposite the Santa María la Nueva church, devoted to the Semana Santa de Zamora processions which are celebrated with particular ceremony in Zamora. The museum displays a large collection of pasos, the figures which are carried in procession through the streets by various 'cofradías' or brotherhoods.
Enlarge picture
Church of San Juan de Puerta Nueva


Zamora surroundings
  • Arcenillas church (15th century panels)
  • Hiniesta church (gothic, sculptures and murals)
  • The Church of San Pedro de la Nave, (El Campillo village - 12 km away) founded in the seventh century, rebuilt in the twelfth century, it is one of the three best kept
visigothic churches in all of Spain. Was moved stone by stone due to the construction of a reservoir on its original site.

Zamora province
  • Benavente, Zamora: About 65 km north from the capital. Santa María church and Castle of La Mota (now the Parador of Benavente). The parador 'Fernando II de Leon' as it is called occupies the castle- palace built in the 12th century and is part of the former walled enclosure of the town. It was named to honour Ferdinand II as the founder of the town.
  • Toro, Zamora (just 34km from Zamora on the motorway). Historic and Artistic centre, churches, palaces, monasteries... with monuments such as the facade of the 'Palacio de las Leyes' and also the famous Santa María la Mayor collegiate church (known in Spanish as 'La Colegiata'). Its wines were the first to be taken to America by Christopher Columbus.
  • Sanabria: on the border with Galicia. Declared a Historic and Artistic centre and set within the countryside near the Sanabria lake. There are a number of attractive bed and breakfast places to stay in (known in Spain as 'Casas Rurales') and also the Sanabria Parador.
  • Fermoselle: on the border with Portugal and on the edge of the Arribes Natural Park "Los Arribes del Duero": an attractive place with less than 100 inhabitants where a traditional way of life still exists. Try the beef (locally reared), goat's cheese, cold meats...a place to stay is the Sayago Parador. The Arribes feature a hunting reserve in the Culebra mountain range (with the highest population of wolves in the whole of Europe). Accessible for visit either travelling by land or on the river by taking a boat excursion from Miranda do Douro lasting about an hour).
  • Villafáfila: The lakes, in ancient times beaches, still retain the sand and fossils. An authentic paradise for European birds. The second largest water reserve in Spain after Doñana.

Zamora cuisine

The excellent raw materials used in cuisine from this province really stand out. The pulses, the famous chickpeas from Fuentesauco or 'garbanzos', the exquisite cheese made from sheep's milk, honey from Sanabria, asparagus from Guareña, peppers from Benavente, steak from Aliste, mushrooms, game, cold meats, cakes and sweets... Apart from the tasty roasts, also worth tasting are the rice dishes from Zamora and the Toro wines (very dark, almost black, nowadays made using modern techniques - with a rapidly growing reputation for their taste and quality). Traditional dishes include bacalao a la tranca (a cod dish), el pulpo a la sanabresa (an octopus dish), dos y pingada (two fried eggs with fried ham, usually served in Easter) and '"presas de ternera" (a veal dish). For dessert there is the rebojo Zamorano, a very tasty though hard type of bun, and "las natillas almendradas" (Spanish style custard with almonds).

References

External links

Coordinates:
Motto
"Plus Ultra"   (Latin)
"Further Beyond"
Anthem
"Marcha Real" 1
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Province of Zamora

Flag Coat of arms

Capital Zamora, Spain
Official language(s) Spanish;
Area
 – Total
 – % of Spain Ranked 22nd
 10.561 km² km
 2.
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Anthem
"A Portuguesa"


Capital
(and largest city) Lisbon5

Official languages Portuguese1
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Douro
Spanish: Duero, Portuguese: Douro


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Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Europe which emerged in the late 10th century and evolved into the Gothic style during the 12th century. The Romanesque style in England is more traditionally referred to as Norman architecture.
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El Cantar del Mio Cid is the oldest preserved Spanish cantar de gesta. Formerly, it was transmitted only orally, but in 1142 it was written down by a certain Per Abbat. This copy is held as part of a 14th century codex in the Biblioteca Nacional de España
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Gothic}}} 
Writing system: Gothic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: got
ISO 639-3: got
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The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter.
Please help [ improve the introduction] to meet Wikipedia's layout standards.

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Comune di Roma

Flag
Seal
Nickname: "The Eternal City"
Motto: "Senatus Populusque Romanus" (SPQR)   (Latin)
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Douro
Spanish: Duero, Portuguese: Douro


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Viriathus (known as Viriato in Portuguese and Castilian) (? - 139 BC) was the most important leader of the Lusitanian people that resisted Roman expansion into the regions of Western Iberia, where the Roman province of Lusitania would be established (in the areas
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The Vaccaei were an ancient Celtic tribe who settled in the Meseta Central of northern Hispania. According to Diodorus Siculus, they were the most cultured group of the Celtiberians, and Silius Italicus classed them as merchants and businessmen.
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Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the Mediterranean coast of Spain along with the central plateau and the north coast, and part of northern Portugal.
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State Party  Spain
Type Cultural
Criteria iii, iv
Reference 664
Region Europe and North America

Inscription History
Inscription 1993  (17th Session)
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Astorga may mean:
  • Astorga, Brazil (in the state of Paraná)
  • Astorga, Spain (in the province of León)
  • Turibius of Astorga

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The Antonine Itinerary (in Latin: Antonini Itinerarium) is a register of the stations and distances along the various roads of the Roman empire, containing directions how to get from one Roman settlement to another.
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Middle Ages form the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three "ages": the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern Times.
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The 8th century is the period from 701 to 800 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era.

Overview

During this century the Middle East, the coast of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula comes rapidly under Islamic Arab domination.
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As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100.

In the history of European culture, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages.
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Ferdinand I, called the Great (in his time, El Magno) (1017–León, 1065), was the king of Castile from his father's death in 1035 and the king of León—through his wife—after defeating his brother-in-law in 1037 until his death in 1065.
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Doña Urraca of Zamora, Infanta of Castile was an 11th century princess at the time of El Cid and the Spanish reconquista. She was a real-life historical figure whose story was romanticized in the cantar de gesta "Song of the Cid", and the Chronicle of the Cid.
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Sancho II (1040-1072), called the Strong, or in Spanish, el Fuerte, was King of Castile (1065-1072) and León (1072).

He was the eldest son of Ferdinand I of Castile and Sancha of León. His maternal grandparents were Alfonso V of Leon by Elvira Mendes.
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Alfonso VI (before June 1040 – July 1, 1109), nicknamed the Brave, was King of León from 1065 to 1109 and King of Castile since 1072 after his brother's death. As he was the first Alfonso to be King of Castile, he is sometimes referred to as Alfonso I of Castile.
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As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages and is sometimes called the Age of the Cistercians.
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The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar. It is the western and southernmost of the three southern European peninsulas (the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas).
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Mediterranean climate is a climate that resembles the climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin. Outside the Mediterranean, this climate covers relatively small areas of the Earth, and generally occurs on the western coasts of continental landmasses, roughly between
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July 24 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

  • 1132 - Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily.

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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1960s  1970s  1980s  - 1990s -  2000s  2010s  2020s
1992 1993 1994 - 1995 - 1996 1997 1998

Year 1995 (MCMXCV
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January 16 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1910s  1920s  1930s  - 1940s -  1950s  1960s  1970s
1940 1941 1942 - 1943 - 1944 1945 1946

Year 1945 (MCMXLV
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