Arcos de la Frontera: Difference between revisions

This article is about a Spanish town. For other uses, see Arcos (disambiguation).

Arcos de la Frontera
Municipality
File:Arcos de la Frontera overview.jpg
Coat of arms
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Andalusia
Province	Cádiz
Comarca	Sierra de Cádiz
Government
• Alcalde	Jose Luis Nuñez (PP)
Area
• Total	527.54 km2 (203.68 sq mi)
Elevation	185 m (607 ft)
Population  (2008)
• Total	31,017
• Density	59/km2 (150/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Arcense, Arcobricense
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	11630
Website	Official website

Arcos de la Frontera is a historic walled city in the province of Cádiz, in Andalusia, Spain. It is located on the Northern, Western and Southern banks of the Guadalete river, which flows around three sides of the city under towering vertical cliffs, to Jerez and on 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.

History

File:Cliffs in Arcos de la Frontera.jpg

The cliffs, 11th-15th c. Moorish-origin castle, and 16th-17th c. Gothic church of San Pedro in Arcos de la Frontera.

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

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 'Abdun ibn Muhammad who ruled from c. 1029/1030 to 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 Granada, led by Abu'l-Qasim Ahyal.

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.

Main sights

File:Santa María de la Asunción, Arcos de la Frontera.jpg

14th-16th century Mudéjar-Gothic church of Santa María de la Asunción

File:Convento de la Encarnación, Arcos de la Frontera.jpg

Plateresque portal of early-16th c. Convento de la Encarnación and 17th c. buttresses in alley Callejón de las Monjas.

• Castillo de Arcos (11th-15th-century castle), a medieval castle of Moorish origin, rebuilt almost entirely in the first half of 15th century. Currently it is a private property, it is not open to the public.
• Church of San Pedro (15th-17th centuries)
• Ayuntamiento (City Hall), 17th-century.
• Iglesia de San Francisco (church built between the 16th and 17th centuries)
• Iglesia de la Caridad (church built between the 16th and 17th centuries)
• Hospital de San Juan de Dios, a 16th century hospital, formerly it was called as Hospital de San Sebastián. attached to a hermitage. It was at that time 14 charitable hospitals in Arcos, and reunified in 1596 in San Sebastián.
• Palacio de los Condes del Águila, a 15th century late Gothic-Mudéjar palace.
• Iglesia de Santa María de la Asunción, a 15th century Mudéjar-Gothic-Plateresque church, built on the site formerly occupied by the old mosque. Inside, highlights the choir and organ, declared a National monument.
• Iglesia de San Pedro, 14th century initial Gothic trace, and later Renaissance and Baroque styles reforms.
• Iglesia de San Agustín, 16th-century Renaissance style, and late-16th-century Baroque high altar.
• Iglesia de San Miguel, formerly a Moorish fortress, in the 15th century converted into a hermitage, later was rebuilt in 18th century. It was also hospice for orphaned girls. Currently it for exhibitions and lectures.
• Asilo de la Caridad, late-16th century.
• Edificio del Pósito (granary building) with a stone facade of 1738; it was a wheat store in 18th century, where its takes its name. Years later was a public school. Today it is a health center.
• Birth house of the poet Julio Mariscal, whose facade can seen a commemorative azulejo.
• Historic centre. Declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1962.
• Remains of the Roman and Moorish City walls, although very garbled and largely demolished. This walled enclosure comprises only the upper neighborhood of the city. The remains of this wall, which can still recognize on the ground itself, for it the following detailed description of the situation of it makes Miguel Mancheño y Olivares in his book "Apuntes para una historia de Arcos de la Frontera (cap. V)". Of this wall, the part between the Torre de la Esquina and San Antón, scarcely are remains of its foundations, having completely disappeared the City Gates Puerta de Jerez and Puerta de Carmona. It preserves, however, although modified, the Puerta de Matrera.

Farmhouses, Haciendas and mills

• Cortijo de San Rafael, (the cortijos are farmhouses)
• Cortijo de la Fuensanta
• Cortijo Casablanca
• Cortijo Casa Blanquilla
• Cortijo Albardén
• Cortijo del Rey
• Cortijo el Jadublón
• Cortijo Faín
• Cortijo las Posadas
• Cortijo Nuevo o el Guijo
• Cortijo o Hacienda el Peral
• Cortijo Soto del Almirante
• Hacienda el Santiscal
• Hacienda de San Andrés Nuevo
• Molino del Bachiller Viejo, a mill.
• Molino Nuestra Señora de la Luz o Barrancos, a mill.

Other interest places

• Calle Nueva, a highlights street because it was the castle moat. With the 1755 Lisbon earthquake collapsed a stretch of wall that blinds the moat and gives rise to this street. It is decorated with pots and frequently locals and is located the old small 'Bar Alcaraván' within a cave.
• Torre de Santa María, typical narrow street. This particular one has been walled up until a few years ago, it is said to be closed for be a street where frecuently robbed.
• The Guardacantones, common feature in streets of this town, is a reinforcing of the corners with old columns in which there are capitals of many ages.
• The Oficina de Turismo y el Centro de Interpretación de la Ciudad de Arcos (the Tourist Office and Interpretation Center of the City of Arcos), located in a typical old house.

Formerly monuments

In Cuesta of Belén, in the preamble to the historic centre. Here was one of the three city gates in medieval times, called Puerta de Jerez, which was torn down in 1852. An architect built a replica with his own initiative. This is the only replica of old monuments in Arcos.

Gastronomy

• Native cuisine: Sausages, Ajo a la molinera. Sopa de Clausura. Gazpacho serrano. Sopa de espárragos. Sopa de tomate. Berza. Garbanzos con tomillo. Revueltos de espárragos. Dishes cooked with game meat, pork and lamb.

• Sweets: Bollos de Semana Santa. Pestiños. Empanadillas. Compota regada con miel serrana.

• Young table wines, both white and red.

Notes

Attribution

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Arcos de la Frontera". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

References

• M. Mancheño y Olivares, Galeria de Arcobricenses illustres (Arcos, 1892)
• M. Mancheño y Olivares, Riqueza y cultura de Arcos de la Frontera (Arcos, 1898)

External links

• Ayuntamiento de Arcos de la Frontera Template:Es icon
• Arcos en la Red - Información ciudadana y turística sobre Arcos de la Frontera Template:Es icon
• Arcos de la Frontera en Twitter. Template:Es icon
• Satellite image from Google Local
• Jerez de la Frontera Airport
• Walking tour of Arcos de la Frontera