Cities in Spain: Badajoz

The capital of the lower Extremadura and the largest city of the region – Badajos (Badajoz) is located at the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the Guadiana River. The city was founded by the Moorish ruler of Ibn Marwan in about 875, and in 1022 he became the capital of the Little Moorish Kingdom (Emirate Badakhos), which retained independence until 1229, when Alfonso IX Leonsky was captured by the troops. The old border fortress, for his history, a lot of Opija and Storms saw (by the way – only two of them were successful, and even the capture of the fortress by the French in 1811. Due to the bribery, not the weakness of urban defense), still looks like a city-forty, even though many defensive structures were destroyed. But the remains of numerous monuments of the Arabic era are preserved, first of all – Alcasab’s castle, powerful fortress walls with numerous towers, wide moat and forts at altitudes. The river, which flows between the castle hill and the powerful Fort of San Cristobal, intersects with a magnificent granite bridge on 32 arches (582 meters long), originally built in 1460, restored in 1597th and restored in 1833. Even the San Juan Cathedral, built in 1238, with its massive walls and narrow windows, resembles a fortress than the temple.

The historic part of the city is concentrated around the squares of San Jose, Espas and Alta, and still enter the passage from the Puerta La Palma bridge fortified by two towers (XVI in.). The decoration of the city is the Churches of Santo Domingo, San Andres and San Agustin de la Concepcion, the Ibero American Museum of Contemporary Art Estremadura (Meizc), the Archaeological Museum (located on the territory of the castle, in the Los Dukes de la Rock Palace ), as well as the provincial Museum of Fine Arts.