Arcos de la Frontera
Encyclopedia
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.
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.
Cádiz (province)
Cádiz is a province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia, the southernmost part of continental Western Europe....
in southern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. It is located on the eastern bank of the Guadalete river, which flows to the Bay of Cadiz
Bay of Cadiz
Bay of Cadiz may refer to:*Bay of Cádiz, a body of water off the province of Cádiz, Spain*Bay of Cádiz , a comarca in the province of Cádiz, Spain*Gulf of Cádiz, the arm of the Atlantic Ocean stretching from the waters south of Portugal...
. The town commands a fine vista atop a sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
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
There is local evidence that Stone AgeStone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
cave-dwellers used rocks to form living chambers. Roman ruins also exist in the area.
Arcos became an independent Moorish
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
taifa
Taifa
In the history of the Iberian Peninsula, a taifa was an independent Muslim-ruled principality, usually an emirate or petty kingdom, though there was one oligarchy, of which a number formed in the Al-Andalus after the final collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031.-Rise:The origins of...
in 1011 during the protracted collapse of the Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
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
Taifa
In the history of the Iberian Peninsula, a taifa was an independent Muslim-ruled principality, usually an emirate or petty kingdom, though there was one oligarchy, of which a number formed in the Al-Andalus after the final collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031.-Rise:The origins of...
under dependency of Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, 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
Zahara
Zahara can refer to:*Zahara de la Sierra*Zahara Schatz*Zahara, South African musician...
and have been on display in a church in Arcos since 1483.
Main sights
- Castillo de Arcos (15th-century castle)
- Iglesia Parroquial de Santa María de la Asunción, a church built between the 16th and 18th centuries
- Convent of San Agustín (16th-17th centuries)
- Church of San Pedro (16th-18th 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))
External links
- Ayuntamiento de Arcos de la Frontera
- Arcos en la Red - Información ciudadana y turística sobre Arcos de la Frontera
- Arcos de la Frontera en Twitter.
- Old photographs of Arcos de la Frontera
- Satellite image from Google Local
- Jerez de la Frontera Airport