Guadalupe (Spain)

Guadalupe municipality
Guadalupe - town view
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Extremadura
Province :	Cáceres
Comarca :	Las Villuercas
Coordinates	39 ° 27 ′  N , 5 ° 20 ′  W Coordinates: 39 ° 27 ′  N , 5 ° 20 ′  W
Height :	640  msnm
Area :	68.19 km²
Residents :	1,862 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	27.31 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	10140
Municipality number  ( INE ):	10087
administration
Website :	Guadalupe

Guadalupe is a place and a municipality ( municipio ) with 1,862 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the province of Cáceres in the autonomous region of Extremadura in Spain . The place is famous beyond Spain for its pilgrimage church and its monastery ( Real Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe ) , which was included in the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1993.

location

The place Guadalupe is located on a mountainside of the Sierra de Guadalupe , a section of the Montes de Toledo , at an altitude of about 620 to 660 m above sea level. d. The Río Guadalupe , a tributary of the Río Guadiana , rises nearby and flows south past the place. The provincial capital Cáceres is a good 120 km (driving distance) to the west; the Spanish capital Madrid is located approx. 245 km northeast. The climate is temperate; Rain (approx. 480 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1842	1900	1950	2000	2016
Residents	k. A.	3,270	3,926	2,365	1999

The significant population decline since the 1950s is mainly due to the mechanization of agriculture and the associated loss of jobs.

economy

The area around Guadalupe is dominated by agriculture; In the past, wine and olives were also planted here for self-sufficiency . Today, forestry and pasture management play a major role. However, the main source of income of the village is the pilgrimage - tourism .

history

The remote valleys of the Montes de Toledo were almost uninhabited for a long time and thus remained untouched by the great events of Iberian history. They served as summer pastures for sheep and goats, so it is not surprising that a shepherd from Cáceres discovered a figure of Mary here around 1300, around which numerous legends soon grew up: This is what the image of Pope Gregory is said to have been around the year 590 the Great was sent to Seville and hidden here after the Moors came to power (around 715). After its rediscovery several hermitages (ermitas) arose , but soon afterwards - after the victorious battle of the Salado - the Castilian king Alfonso XI took himself . (r. 1312-1350) initiated the building of a church and a monastery, which took a huge boom after the discovery of America - numerous places, islands, etc. in the Spanish colonial empire were called Guadalupe . Guadalupe has been one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Spain for almost 700 years; the figure of Mary venerated here is considered the "Queen of Spain" all over the world.

Attractions

Monastery church on October 12, 2007

• Real Monasterio de Santa María , built in the 14th-15th centuries. In the 18th century, it features a fortress and a marked Mudejar accent built with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements. In 1993, UNESCO added the Guadalupe Monastery to the list of World Heritage Sites. The center of the complex is the late Gothic monastery church.
• Iglesia de la Santa Trinidad built by Manuel de Lara Churriguera. The building with a baroque facade is a three-aisled temple with a transept and a dome, dedicated to the Trinity. It was built in the years 1730-1735 at the expense of the Duke of Veragua, a descendant of Christopher Columbus .
• The quarter of La Puebla with its winding streets and the Jewish quarter ( Judería ) is classified as Conjunto histórico-artístico .
• Several museums can be visited - including one with paintings by El Greco , Juan Correa de Vivar , Zurbarán and Goya .

Surroundings

• There are other hermit and pilgrim churches in the vicinity of the village.

Festivals

• The feast of the local patron saint is celebrated every year from September 6th to 9th with processions and masses, which are attended by people from all over Spain.
• On October 12th, the anniversary of the discovery of America, the festival of Hispanidad is celebrated . The Virgen de Guadalupe also plays a major role here.

Others

Twelve historical pilgrimage routes (Caminos de Guadalupe) in central Spain lead to Guadalupe.

Web links

Commons : Guadalupe (Cáceres)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Guadalupe, sights - photos + information (Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
2. ↑ Guadalupe - Map with altitude information
3. ↑ Guadalupe - climate tables
4. ↑ Guadalupe - population development