Hervás (Cáceres)

Hervás municipality
Hervás - town view
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Extremadura
Province :	Cáceres
Comarca :	Valle del Ambroz
Coordinates	40 ° 16 ′  N , 5 ° 52 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 16 ′  N , 5 ° 52 ′  W
Height :	675  msnm
Area :	59.78 km²
Residents :	3,976 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	66.51 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	10700
Municipality number  ( INE ):	10096
administration
Website :	Hervás

Hervás is a small town in western Spain and a municipality ( municipio ) with 3,976 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the province of Cáceres in the north of the autonomous region of Extremadura . The old town center was classified as a cultural asset ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) in the category Conjunto histórico-artístico in 1969 .

Location and climate

The place Hervás is located above the Río Ambroz on a hilltop of the Sierra de Hervás , part of the Iberian Mountains , at an altitude of about 675  m . The distance to Plasencia is about 55 km (driving distance) in a south-westerly direction; the cities of Béjar and Salamanca in the neighboring province of Castile-León are about 33 and 100 km to the north, respectively. The climate is temperate; Rain (approx. 560 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	3,716	4,774	4,740	3,839	4.102

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

economy

Hervás was not far from an old Roman road, remains of which can still be seen in the neighboring town of Baños de Montemayor . In the Middle Ages, the small town served to a large extent as a craft and trade center for the surrounding villages; From the 17th to the 19th century there were several textile factories here. Today fruit and vegetable growing and wood processing (chestnuts and cherries) play the most important roles in the city's economic life. In addition, the small town functions as a health, training, administrative and service center for the Comarca Valle del Ambroz .

history

Celts , Romans , Visigoths and even the Moors left no traces on the municipal area and so the history of the place begins with the reconquest ( reconquista ) and repopulation ( repoblación ) of the area in the late 12th and 13th centuries. The starting point was possibly a hermitage (ermita) belonging to the Knights Templar ; later new settlers came from northern Spain. Hervás belonged to the 15th century, the basic rule (señorio) ruling over much of western Spain Family Zuñiga who for their services in 1485 by the Catholic Monarchs with the title " Duke of Béjar was rewarded". It was not until 1816 that Hervás received city rights (villa) and during the major administrative and territorial reform of 1833 the place was assigned to the province of Cáceres in the Extremadura region .

In the late Middle Ages, Hervás was the center of a large Jewish community , whose members, however, had to convert to Christianity or leave the country as a result of the Alhambra Edict (1492).

Attractions

Judería by Hervás

• The houses and alleys of the village, which are characterized by the quarry stone and half-timbered architecture of the Sierra de Francia as well as by the Moorish clay construction in the south of the Iberian Peninsula , offer interesting impressions. In particular, the former Jewish quarter ( judería ) in the northeast of the city impresses with its narrow, pebble-paved streets and sometimes with balconies and mostly whitewashed houses.
• A single arched medieval stone bridge spans the Río Ambroz , from which the many pebbles for the pavement were taken.
• The parish church of Santa María or Santa María de la Asunción de Aguas Vivas , built in the 17th century, forms the highest point of the city and stands on the site of a medieval castle (castillo) . The large, but otherwise rather unadorned building has a baroque south portal with accompanying double columns and a blown gable .
• The Church of the Trinitarian Order , dedicated to John the Baptist (San Juán Bautista) , dates from the same period . The apse and transept arms are decorated with lavish baroque carved altars .
• The Palacio de los Dávila , built in the 18th century, now houses a museum with works by the sculptor Enrique Pérez Comendador (1900–1981) and his wife, the painter Madeleine Leroux (1902–1984).
• Today's town hall (ayuntamiento) is located in a part of the former Franciscan monastery; it has a small patio .

Web links

Commons : Hervás  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Hervás, sights - photos
• Hervás - video

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. ↑ Hervás - Climate tables
3. ↑ Hervás - population development
4. ↑ Hervás - History
5. ↑ Hervás - Sights