Coria, Cáceres
Encyclopedia
Coria is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura
, Spain
, with some 12,900 inhabitants as of 2009.
, firstly after 1085. It was lost to the Almoravids
just after 1109 and unsuccessfully besieged in 1138
. The second and permanent conquest was after a two-month siege in 1142
.
Extremadura
Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, with some 12,900 inhabitants as of 2009.
History
Coria was taken twice during the ReconquistaReconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
, firstly after 1085. It was lost to the Almoravids
Almoravids
The Almoravids were a Berber dynasty of Morocco, who formed an empire in the 11th-century that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus. Their capital was Marrakesh, a city which they founded in 1062 C.E...
just after 1109 and unsuccessfully besieged in 1138
Siege of Coria (1138)
The short first Siege of Coria by Alfonso VII of León took place in July 1138, on the heels of a successful razzia deep into al-Andalus . The main source for the siege is the second book of the contemporary Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris.Coria had previously been reconquered just after 1085 by...
. The second and permanent conquest was after a two-month siege in 1142
Siege of Coria (1142)
The second Siege of Coria by the Emperor Alfonso VII of León was begun in early May 1142 and ended with the taking of the town in June. Coria had previously been reconquered just after 1085 by Alfonso VI. It was lost to the Almoravids sometime not long after Alfonso's death in 1109. Alfonso VII had...
.
Main sights
- Roman walls (3rd-4th centuries AD)
- Cathedral of Santa María de la Asunción, in transitional Gothic styleGothic architectureGothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
- Bishop's palace (1628)
- Castle of Coria (1472-1478)
- Baroque Harmitage of Nuestra Señora de Argeme (17th century)
- Royal Prisons (1686)
- Old Bridge (Puente Viejo), dating to the 15th-16th centuries
- Convent of the Madre de Dios, founded in the 13th century. The current structure dates to the 14th-16th centuries
- Church of Santiago, in Baroque style (16th-18th centuries)
- Palaces of the Dukes of Alba (15th-16th centuries)