Plasencia

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Plasencia (disambiguation) .

Plasencia municipality
Plasencia - View of the town with Río Jerte
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Extremadura
Province :	Cáceres
Comarca :	Valle del Jerte
Coordinates	40 ° 2 ′  N , 6 ° 5 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 2 ′  N , 6 ° 5 ′  W
Height :	430  msnm
Area :	218 km²
Residents :	39,913 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	183.09 inhabitants / km²
Founding:	June 12, 1186
Postal code :	10600
Municipality number  ( INE ):	10148
administration
Website :	Plasencia
Location of the municipality

Plasencia is a Spanish city ​​with 39,913 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the province of Cáceres in the autonomous region of Extremadura . The city has been a bishopric since 1189 .

geography

Geographical location

Plasencia is 83 km north of Cáceres , 146 km (driving distance) north of Mérida and 70 km east of the border with Portugal . The city is located in the north of the autonomous community of Extremadura , right next to the Valle del Jerte association ( mancomunidad ) .

The city borders in the west on the mountains of the Sierra del Gordo and the Sierra de Berenguer , which are located between the Montes de Traslasierra . On the other hand, the area is bounded by the Sierra de Santa Bárbara , which is an offshoot of the Sierra de San Bernabé . Both are framed by the Sierra de Tormantos . The lowest point is 352  m , the highest point of the urban area is 997  m in the Sierra del Gordo. The old town itself is at an altitude of approx. 430  m .

The Río Jerte flows into the Río Alagón upstream from Plasencia . About 4 km from the municipality is the Embalse de Plasencia , a reservoir with a capacity of 59 million cubic meters.

The neighboring municipalities of Plasencia are:

Northwest: Oliva de Plasencia and Valdeobispo	North: Cabezabellosa	Northeast: Casas del Castañar
West: Aldehuela de Jerte and Carcaboso		East: Gargüera
Southwest: Galisteo	South: Malpartida de Plasencia and Riolobos	Southeast: Malpartida de Plasencia

climate

The climate in Plasencia is between temperate and Mediterranean and is influenced by the microclimate of the valley of the Río Jerte. In summer the temperatures rarely rise above 40 ° C and at night it usually cools down considerably. In winter, temperatures often drop below 0 ° C. It is also generally cooler in the city than in the surrounding cities.

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Plasencia Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 14.4 16.7 22.1 26.4 31.3 36.4 39.3 38.6 34.1 27.6 20.5 15.2 O 26.9 Min. Temperature (° C) −2.4 −1.3 1.3 3.6 6.6 11.1 15.2 15.1 11.5 6.1 1.1 −1.8 O 5.5 Precipitation ( mm ) 94.1 80.0 56.5 57.3 60.5 31.6 11.4 7.2 38.3 72.5 91.3 93.3 Σ 694 T e m p e r a t u r 14.4 −2.4 16.7 −1.3 22.1 1.3 26.4 3.6 31.3 6.6 36.4 11.1 39.3 15.2 38.6 15.1 34.1 11.5 27.6 6.1 20.5 1.1 15.2 −1.8 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec N i e d e r s c h l a g 94.1 80.0 56.5 57.3 60.5 31.6 11.4 7.2 38.3 72.5 91.3 93.3   Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Source: Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente de España 1961–1996

Flora and fauna

Cork oaks in Valcorchero

Parque de la Isla in the south of the city

The original vegetation has been greatly altered by human intervention. The forest was displaced and replaced by agricultural land and pastures. As in large parts of Spain, the current vegetation is determined by dehesas made from stone and cork oaks . In the north of the city there is an area of ​​1200 hectares with cork oaks, which is called Valcorchero. In between there is grass and pasture land. Otherwise you will find irrigated areas and small groves of poplars along the rivers. The bushes in the area mostly belong to subspecies of the genus Retama . The slopes of the Sierra de Santa Bárbara are arranged in terraces and house several olive groves. However, this area is increasingly being urbanized. There are some irrigated parks and gardens in the village itself.

The city's pastureland is mainly used for feeding goats, sheep and cows. In the summer months, migrating herds also roam here . In addition to the farm animals, wild mammals also have their habitat here, such as field mice , wood mice , brown-breasted hedgehogs and wild rabbits .

Plasencia is also the habitat of various bird species. Large birds of prey, such as the booted eagle or the peregrine falcon , which nest in the Monfragüe National Park or in the foothills of the Sierra de Gredos , search for food here. Smaller bird species can be seen more frequently, however, such as the chaffinch , blue tit , great tit , goldfinch , serpentine , red linnet , house sparrow , mistletoe , woodlark , different types of cuckoo , treecreeper and monochrome starfish . Smaller predators such as the red-headed shrike and the Iberian blue magpie are also represented. In winter, the number of wood pigeons increases due to the influx .

Among the amphibians and reptiles that live in the area, there are different types of anurans , the European Montpellier snake , the Ocellated , several species of lizards and wall geckos . The Rio Jerte is home to numerous species of fish such as barbel , ide , Squalius Alburnoides , tench and Cobitis paludica .

geology

Stratigraphically, the rock consists primarily of Precambrian sediments of greywacke and schist as well as the local granite of the Béjar-Plasencia zone.

Fluvial sediment from the Tertiary and Quaternary periods was created by the river systems. To the west there are tertiary deposits in the Coria basin. Quaternary alluvial soils have been deposited in the valley by the Río Jerte. These are made up of quartz, gravel, slate, granite and sandy loam. There were quarries in the village for the needs of industrial ceramics, but these businesses have all been given up.

Population development

Plasencia has a population of 40,892 inhabitants (according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística for 2014). It is the second largest city in the province of Cáceres and the fourth largest in Extremadura . At the beginning of the 19th century the city had about 6,000 inhabitants, towards the end it was about 8,000; since then there has been constant population growth.

According to the 2012 census , 1,362 of the 41,002 residents were foreigners. Among these there were 254 Romanians, 212 Moroccans, 113 Bolivians and the rest were from other nations.

The following table shows the demographic development based on censuses before 1842:

year	source	population
1591	Libro de los Millones	1743 families
1754	Ensenada Cadastre	1070 families
1787	Floridablanca Census	4467 inhabitants
1791	Consultation by the Real Audiencia de Extremadura	1100 families
1797	Godoy Census	4500 inhabitants

The following graphic shows the development of the population between 1842 and 2011:

history

Romanesque and late Gothic cathedral

Chancel of the new cathedral

Inner courtyard ( patio ) of the Palace of the Marquis de Maribel

Plaza Mayor with City Hall ( ayuntamiento )

Part of the medieval city wall ( muralla )

The Roman conquerors built a garrison on the ruins of a Celtic settlement on the Via de la Plata ('Silver Road'). Visigoths and Moors left no traces in the urban area. During the powered from the 10th century reconquest ( reconquista ) of the Moorish-occupied territories by the leonesisch - Castilian kings was the city in 1186 by Alfonso VIII of Castile. Founded just three years later by Pope Clement III. raised to the bishopric. The clashes between Christians and the Almohads , who were dominant at the time, continued until July 16, 1212 after the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa the city finally came under Christian rule.

As early as 1189, after one of the many recaptures by Pope Clement III. was raised to the bishopric, whereupon the construction of a Romanesque cathedral began immediately . Their new building dragged on from the 16th to the 18th century, so that today's sacred building also contains plenty of late Gothic style elements.

The crest

The coat of arms shows a castle, flanked by a chestnut and a pine tree, covered with a ducal crown and framed by a banderole with the inscription " Ut Placeat Deo Et Hominibus " ('Glory to God and the people').

Attractions

Plasencia is a city with a large number of culturally and historically significant buildings. To list these here would go beyond the scope, see the city's website and the reference list. Some examples are given here:

• Main square ( plaza mayor ) with buildings from many centuries
• old cathedral from the 13th century with Torre del Melón
• unfinished new cathedral from the 16th to 18th centuries
• Churches of El Salvador, San Esteban, San Martín and San Nicolás
• medieval city wall
• Palace of the Marquis de Mirabel
• Town hall ( ayuntamiento )
• 16th century aqueduct
• Museums (→ Weblink)

Economy and Infrastructure

economy

In the Middle Ages, the city served to a large extent as a craft and trade center; Today, the construction industry and the service sector, as well as inner-city and national transport, play the most important roles in the city's economic life. Small industrial companies have settled in commercial centers ( polígonos industriales ) outside the city gates.

traffic

Connecting roads

designation	Location in the city area	connection to
Autovía Ruta de la Plata	Highway, penetrates the urban area from north to south, west of the city	North: Villar de Plasencia , Valle del Ambroz , Béjar ; South: Cañaveral , Cáceres , Mérida , Almendralejo , Zafra and Seville .
EX-A1 Autovía del Norte de Extremadura	Regional highway, crosses the urban area from east to west, south of Plasencia and north of San Gil .	East: Malpartida de Plasencia , Casatejada and Navalmoral de la Mata ; West: Galisteo , Coria , Moraleja and Portugal .
N-630	National road that crosses the entire center of the city from north to south.	Connection route to the A-66.
N-110	National road, intersects with the N-630 at the Puerta de Talavera and leads from there to the northeast.	Northeast: Valle del Jerte and the province of Avila .
EX-108	Regional road, runs parallel to the EX-A1	Connection route to the EX-A1.
EX-203	Regional road that intersects with the N-630 at Puerta del Sol.	East: La Vera and the valley of the Río Tiétar .
EX-208	Regional road, leads south to the EX-A1 ​​and beyond.	Southeast: Monfragüe National Park , Trujillo and Zorita .
EX-304	Bypass road in the southeast of the city	Connection route in all directions.
EX-370	Regional road, intersects with the N-630 in the city center	East: Carcaboso , Montehermoso and Pozuelo de Zarzón .
CC-36	Regional road, intersects with the N-110 in the city center	Southeast: Malpartida de Plasencia .

Rail transport

Plasencia has its own train station on Avenida del Ambroz, which offers daily direct connections with cities such as Madrid , Talavera de la Reina , Cáceres , Mérida , Badajoz or Huelva . The Spanish railway company Renfe operates the routes with Intercity and Regional Express trains. The connection line to Astorga , which also ran through Salamanca and Zamora (Spain) , was in operation until 1985 .

The high-speed line (AVE), which will connect Plasencia with Badajoz in 2020 and will have a station in the city, is in the implementation phase.

Town twinning

• Piacenza , Italy (since 2005)
• Santiago de Chile , Chile (since 2007)

Sons and daughters

• Bernardino López de Carvajal (1456–1523), cardinal
• Inés de Suárez (1507-1580), conquistador
• Gabriel Trejo Paniagua (1562-1630), cardinal
• Cipriano Calderón Polo (1927–2009), Catholic clergyman, Curia Bishop
• José Vicente Conejero Gallego (* 1951), Catholic clergyman, Bishop of Formosa in Argentina
• Raquel Sánchez-Silva (* 1973), TV presenter
• Pedro Romero (* 1982), racing cyclist

See also

• Diocese of Plasencia

Web links

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

• Plasencia . Museums - photos + brief information

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. ^ Informe de la Estación Meteorológica de Plasencia. Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente de España Organization, accessed August 28, 2016 . 
3. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadística, España
4. ↑ INEbase. Changes in population since 1842. ine.es accessed August 28, 2016.
5. ↑ Info on the tourism page ( Memento of the original from February 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.