Arcos de la Frontera

Spanish city


image_skyline_size =
image_skyline_caption =
native_name = Arcos de la Frontera
spanish_name = Arcos de la Frontera
nickname =
city_motto =
city_motto_means =


image_flag_size =
image_coat_of_arms = Escudo de Arcos de la Frontera.svg
image_coat_of_arms_size = 90px
image_city_

image_city_map_size = 190px
image_city_map_caption = Location of Arcos de la Frontera
lat_long =
time_zone =
time_zone_summer =
founded =
native_language = Spanish
community = Andalusia
community_link = Andalusia
province = Cádiz
province_link = Cádiz (province)
comarca = Sierra de Cádiz
comarca_link = Sierra de Cádiz
divisions =
neighborhoods =
mayor = Josefa Caro Gamaza
political_party = PSOE
political_party_link = Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
area = 528
altitude = 185
population = 29.905
date-population = 2007
population-ranking =
density = 55,7
date-density = 2007
website = http://www.arcosdelafrontera.es/
postal_code = 11630
area_code =

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. [http://books.google.com/books?id=Yjd5EQGM9zUC&pg=RA1-PA446&lpg=RA1-PA446&dq=%22Galeria+de+Arcobricenses+illustres%22&source=web&ots=qQrCufcDL0&sig=yWNkBTxpvoNbZaFSwmn2UJmDQdE&hl=en Encyclopedia Britannica (1910), p. 446] ]

History

There is local evidence that Stone Age 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 Aben Jairuan who ruled c. 1040-1053. 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 Grenada, led by Aben Garrum.

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.

The ruined citadel, the theatre, and the palace of the dukes of Arcos are the only other noteworthy buildings.

Geographic limits

*To the North: Espera and Bornos.
*To the South: San José del Valle and Algar.
*To the East: Prado del Rey and El Bosque.
*To the West: Jerez de la Frontera.

Demographics

Demography 7col|400px
1999|2000|2001|2002|2003|2004|2005
27,948|27,979|28,104|28,369|28,735|29,079|29,420Source: [http://www.ine.es INE (Spain)]

Monuments

* Castillo de Arcos (fifteenth-century castle)
* Iglesia Parroquial de Santa María de la Asunción (church built between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries)
* Convento de San Agustín (convent built between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries)
* Iglesia de San Pedro (church built between the sixteenth and eighteenth 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))

References

* M. Mancheiio y Olivares, Galeria de Arcobricenses illustres (Arcos, 1892)
* M. Mancheiio y Olivares, Riqueza y culture de Arcos de la Frontera (Arcos, 1898)

External links

* [http://www.ayuntamientoarcos.org/ Ayuntamiento de Arcos de la Frontera]
* [http://www.casacampana.com/photographs.htm Old photographs of Arcos de la Frontera]
* Satellite image from [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=36.747963,-5.806564&spn=0.010,0.010&t=k Google Local]