Cáceres knows how to transport you to another era, to other events, to other lives... Walking through the Monumental City at night or in the rain can lead especially to evocation, romanticism and, above all, the enjoyment of thousands of sensations. The modern Cáceres, in turn, invites you to take part in activities of culture and leisure, with the guidance of a few high quality tourist services, leaving you with a memorable experience of Cáceres.
CÁCERES TODAY, TOURIST ATTRACTIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Any time of the year is a good time to visit the historic city. Its buildings easily take us back in time. The corners we can discover are surprising, stopping to contemplate the profile of a tower, a shield or the impossible layout of a cobbled alley.
A night walk through the monumental city becomes essential. The lighting is carefully designed to give prominence to the main monuments while other areas are kept in a pleasant half-light. The calm stroll, even without a pre-established course, will be an unforgettable experience. The city seems to be asleep; the sensations are better perceived through the stillness and beauty of the surroundings, the shadows of buildings with the storks in their towers, the sobriety of the portals, the variety of balconies; in essence, an incredible medieval film backdrop that unfolds before our eyes. Due to its excellent state of preservation, the density of monuments and the singularity of its urban layout, the walled complex with its buildings inside, the Plaza Mayor and other constructions outside the city walls were declared NATIONAL MONUMENT in 1949.
In 1968, the Council of Europe awarded it the title of THIRD MONUMENTAL ENSEMBLE OF EUROPE; and since 1986 it has held the title of CITY HERITAGE OF HUMANITY, granted by UNESCO. Cáceres has other awards: POMME D´OR FOR TURIST MERIT, awarded by the International Federation of Journalists and Tourism Writers in 1996; LES ETOILES D´OR DU JUMELAGE, awarded by the European Commission in 1999; and the ARCHIVAL prize awarded by the Association for the Recovery of Historic Centres in 2004.
Cáceres is integrated in tourist networks such as the group of CITIES PATRIMONY OF THE HUMANITY OF SPAIN, and the NETWORK OF JUDERIES "SEFARAD ROADS". The city was CAPITAL OF CULTURE OF EXTREMADURA IN 1992.
HISTORICAL-ARTISTIC INTRODUCTION
Cave paintings from the Palaeolithic period, Neolithic ceramics, stelae of Iron Age warriors, vettones’ verracos, remains of the Roman Norba Caesarina, the Arab wall and cistern of Qazris, the numerous medieval fortified houses and Renaissance palaces, the Co-cathedral and other religious buildings, the Royal Audience, the University, the boulevards... are some of the traces left by the cultures that have shaping Cáceres.
Cave paintings from the Upper Palaeolithic and arrowheads, remains of Neolithic ceramics in the Cave of Maltravieso, stelae of Iron Age warriors; verracos (boars) - bulls or wild boars - traces of the vettones, are some of the remnants left by the cultures that have inhabited Cáceres.
From the Roman colony of Norba Caesarina, remains of the wall, the Arch of the Christ or Gate of the River (one of the gates), inscriptions and the sculpture of the Genius of the Colony (badly known as Goddess Ceres) are preserved. The city was founded by a Roman politician and soldier, Cayo Norbano Flaco in the first century B.C., its patron being Lucio Cornelio Balbo (among other hypotheses).
Later, the city fell under the control of Leovigildo in the 6th century A.D., passing into Visigothic hands. But it was not until the Muslim domination and especially in the Almohad period that Cáceres became an important defensive enclave. The wall was reconstructed with towers and the citadel was erected in what are today the Plaza de San Mateo and Plaza de las Veletas (now Museum of Cáceres) with an impressive cistern.
It was King Alfonso IX of León in 1229, who granted it such a favourable fuero (charter) that it repopulated conflictive territories in exchange for lands and privileges. As a result, families from the north of Spain built a large part of the palaces and fortified houses in the squares around the churches of Santa María and San Mateo. Many of these buildings lost their defensive character with the Catholic Monarchs to become symbols of prestige and power.
The new American lands led Fray Nicolás de Ovando, governor of the Indies, Francisco Pizarro, discoverer of Peru, Orellana who travelled the Amazon River and other cacereños to enlarge the history of the region.
The 17th and 18th centuries were especially hard due to pests, epidemics and economic scarcity caused by the war with Portugal and the expulsion of the moriscos. In 1790, the Royal Audience of Extremadura implied the jurisdictional unity of the region, until then belonging to Valladolid and Granada. Later, in 1833, Cáceres was named capital of upper Extremadura and the Free University of Education was created - later the College of Humanities. In 1881 King Alfonso XII visited the city to inaugurate the railway that links it with Valencia de Alcántara and a year later granted Cáceres the title of City (until then a royal town).
BRIEF GEOGRAPHIC DATA ABOUT THE CITY
The city of Cáceres is located to the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in Extremadura. It occupies an area of 30 km², larger than Bilbao or León, although its population density is lower (90,000 inhabitants) and has the largest municipality in Spain (1,768 km²).
Its average altitude is 500 m. The plateau where it is located is bordered by the Tagus to the north and the central mountain ranges to the south. Granite, quartzite, gneiss and slate constitute its orography.
Its environment is a landscape of hills, chaparrales and scrubland with mastic, arbutus or myrtle, and scrub as the rockrose or the broom. But what is most abundant are the dehesas (meadows with an area of more than one and a half million hectares in the region) of holm oaks, cork oaks and farmland.
Within the municipality we find two Protected Natural Spaces: Los Llanos de Cáceres-Sierra de Fuentes, and Sierra de San Pedro. Torrejón el Rubio and the Monfragüe National Park, the maximum exponent of Mediterranean vegetation and fauna, are located 55 km from Cáceres and have recently been named a Biosphere Natural Reserve. 75% of the species that inhabit it are protected: the imperial eagle, the black stork, the griffon vulture, the Iberian lynx, etc.
Cáceres is friendly even in winter. The annual average is around 16º and the autumn and winter rainfall is rather scarce.
The biggest tourist inflow takes place in the months of autumn and spring. Economically, the services sector, commerce, hotels and restaurants, transport, in addition to the importance acquired by the University of Extremadura and the tourist boom experienced in recent years, stand out. Previously, Cáceres lived off mining (we recommend a visit to the Aldea Moret Mining Interpretation Centre), agriculture and livestock.