Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Cáceres



By Manuel Martín

    Have you ever thought of living in a place where the average temperature is 16º C or that it is full of history? If you are seriously considering moving out, Cáceres is your city, no doubt.
Not only is a zone whose old part of town is one of the biggest in Spain, in fact it was declared world heritage by the Unesco for being one of the most complete ones in the world.
No sooner will you get there you will feel as if you were at home already. Even though people know you are some sort of visitor you will be thrilled by their warmth.
    It is thought that the name of the city comes from the Romans, others claim that its origin is Arabic and there are also some historians that argue it is a Latinism. They haven’t come to an agreement yet. Supporters of the Roman theory claim that the term comes from the colony of Norba Caesarina, which was founded around 25 b. C. On the other side, the ones who think it has a Latin origin say that Cáceres derives from ‘castris’ which means ‘in the camp’.
    It is time to talk a little bit about the much history that surrounds Cáceres. It was back in the Prehistory that the actual area of Cáceres was already inhabited. There are several caves were the fingerprints of our ancestors were found, the most important one is Santa Ana’s cave. It holds traces of human beings for about a million years ago. These caves are obviously far from the city center but some pottery and cuttlery have been found.                                                                                        
    The Visigoths came over in the Middle Earth near the 5th century and expelled the Romans but it wasn’t until the 7th century that we heard again about Cáceres. In the 12th century the citadel fortified itself due to Christians’ siege. In spite of the fact that the city counted on a wall as a protection, Alfonso IX took over the territory snatching it from the Moors. This procedure lasted a couple of years and finally on April 23, 1229 he gained freedom. Ever since that date –St. George’s day- the people takes the day off and makes a feast. The locals celebrate the day with the march and the fight of Moors and Christians and after that the burning of the dragon, which is astonishing event for people who have never witnessed such day. They also stage the reconquest made by Alfonso IX.

 

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