Llerena | |
|---|---|
 Church of Nuestra Señora de la Granada | |
  Llerena Location within Extremadura Show map of Extremadura Llerena Location within Spain Show map of Spain | |
| Coordinates:38°14′21″N6°01′07″W / 38.23917°N 6.01861°W /38.23917; -6.01861 | |
| Country | Spain |
| Autonomous community | Extremadura |
| Province | Badajoz |
| Municipality | Llerena |
| Government | |
| • Alcalde | Juana Moreno (PSOE) |
| Area | |
• Total | 162.7 km2 (62.8 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 641 m (2,103 ft) |
| Population (2024-01-01)[1] | |
• Total | 5,645 |
| • Density | 34.70/km2 (89.86/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Website | http://llerena.org |
Llerena is a municipality located in the province ofBadajoz,Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2007census (INE), the municipality had a population of 5,995 inhabitants. Llerena, a town that declared itself a Historical Artistic gathering on December 29, 1966, is located in southwestern Spain. The head of the judicial and economic center of the region of the country of the same name, it is equidistant from 20 municipalities, and sits at the confluence of the District 432 and 413 National Roads.
In the time of the Arabs it was calledEllerina, a place contested between Arabs and Christians. It was definitively occupied in the year 1243 byPelayo Pérez Correa, master of theOrder of Santiago, to whomFerdinand III of Castile had entrusted the reconquest ofSierra Morena.
The settlement was given to theOrder of Santiago, to provide for its defense and resettlement. The masters of the order grantedFueros in 1297.
The tradition emerged that the masters of the order used Llerena as their temporal residence. The most noteworthy masters who resided there were:
Llerena was the habitual residence of the Masters of theOrder of Santiago, and this fact favored the city in the 15th century, when it became capital of thePriory of the Hostal San Marcos de León. For this reason it was the most important center of the territory, which until then had been Reina. So much was its increase in importance that it became the most important administrative center of theLeon province of the order of Santiago inExtremadura, the headquarters of the Maestral order table, and the principal town of the more than 30 towns governed from Llerena and dependent upon the Prior of the Order of San Marcos in León.
In the year 1340, KingAlfonso XI of Castile presided over theCortes in Llerena. In 1383, Pedro Fernández celebrated the General Chapter of the Order of Santiago in Llerena, with the assistance of all of the Order's commanders.
The Master of the Order Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa received the license to hold the San Mateo fair on September 21, built the chapel of the Trinity in the Church of Granada, built the bastimentos, and finished the building designed to be the Casa Maestral or the convent of Santa Elena.
Enrique García Fernández of Villagarcía built the castle in the neighboring town ofVillagarcía de la Torre, and became the patron of the chancel of the Church of Santa Maria, and decided to be buried in it.
Alonso de Cárdenas built the Church of Santiago on the site occupied by theshrine of Saint Peter, and gave to the walled enclosure some of the most important gates of the city.
Having once been a Muslim territory, its reconquest produced a repopulation by Leonese, Basque and Cantabrian families. But an important coreJewish population also emerged within the city, and made it a prosperous city with high economic and cultural achievements.
A peaceful coexistence emerged among the three cultures: Christians, Jews and Muslims. In the year 1479, the Jewish leader Rabí Mayr persuadedIsabella to remove the ban on Jews holding fairs and markets that existed in the Kingdom of Castile. This improved the economic levels of the city and allowed creation of the school of translators. At this time there were 600 Jewish families in Llerena, who lived in the vicinity of the synagogue (Chapel of Santa Catalina).
In 1490, the final Chapter General of the Order of Santiago was held, started inUclés. It was called by the order's last master before that role was incorporated into the power of the Spanish Crown.
AfterIsabella signed the Decree of Expulsion of the Jews in 1492, 125 Jewish families remained in Llerena and became Jewish converts to Christianity.
In 1508, the Tribunal del Santo Oficio of theInquisition court was instituted. Obtained by the influence of the degree Luis Zapata, Director and Advisor toIsabella, it was aided by the existence of a Jewish population in lower Extremadura. It was the third Court of Spain, as regards the extension of its jurisdiction. It occupied 42,260 square kilometers, and included the bishoprics ofCiudad Rodrigo,Piacenza,Coria, andBadajoz. Occupying three headquarters in Llerena, the Priory Palace in Zapatería Street, the House maestral Street La Prison and finally, until its abolition in 1834, Palace of the Zapata, now justice in la Corredera Street today.
Its period of maximum splendor was in the 16th century when it had seven convents, as well as a great cultural activity. During this century there was a large population increase that had only decreased by a certain amount of emigration to the New World, becoming the second largest population centre of Extremadura in 1591, behind the capital of Badajoz. At the end of the century it had 8,300 inhabitants.
In 1594, the census of population in the provinces and marches of theCrown of Castile in the 16th century was part of theLeon province and had 2,066 neighbors, including the suburbs of Llerena such asMaguilla.
In the year 1640, due to the growth it had achieved,Philip IV granted Llerena the title of City.
By the end of the 17th century the city's decline had begun, influenced by several factors: the political crisis in theSpanish Empire, war with Portugal, few suitable local rulers, theMoorish expulsion and successive plagues which kept it isolated from the outside during the quarantine.
In the 18th century the places ofHiguera de Llerena in 1786 andMaguilla in 1749 achieved independence from the municipality. They had previously belonged to its City Council.
During theWar of Independence (1808–1814), on the occasion of the Battle of Cantalgallo in 1810, produced a large destruction of the city. There were many buildings damaged and part of the archive was destroyed, and served as the seat to the chivalry, large number of works of art were plundered, as part of thealtar of the Church of our Lady of GranadaZurbarán.
The fall of the old disappeared the Order of San Marcos in León, ceased to hold office in Llerena the Governor of the province and the party and decreed the abolition of theHoly Office in 1834 of theInquisition. Then this city was in northeasternExtremadura and 1834 was capital and headquarters of the judicial district of Llerena.
After the Decree of suspension of the religious jurisdiction maintained centuries themilitary orders, Llerena produced the "schism", caused by the clergyman Don Francisco Maesso's jurisdiction of thebishopric of Badajoz. In just over a year there were several altercations that subsided whenAlfonso XII to the throne, leading to the disappearance of that decree for Llerena.
The successive ground and building confiscations produced a great misfortune for the municipal economy of Llerena and to the rest of the neighborhood. OfJuan Álvarez Mendizábal of 1837 andMadoz in 1855, it was left almost without resources to the municipality of Llerena. He lost thedehesas of their property that he had maintained and exploited for centuries by providing significant benefits for the municipal coffers. Some convents, such as those dedicated toSanta Isabel,San Francisco,La Merced,San Sebastian, andLa Concepción disappeared, leaving only theSanta Clara convent.
During the 19th century, some industries that remained in the city together with the construction of the railway lineMérida–Sevilla, in the second half of the century until its conclusion in the last section in 1885 between Llerena andEl Pedroso, contributing to the economic progress of the region.
Llerena is located south of the province of Badajoz and belongs to the region of "The Countryside South." 114 km far from Badajoz and is located 638m. altitude. The municipal area of 162.3 km2 extending from the piedmont and foothills of Sierra Morena, in exactly the watershed of theGuadalquivir andGuadiana.
The terrain is varied, succeeding from north to south: the countryside, an area ofsedimentation, with deep clay soils, soils with rickety, sandy and rocky towards the SE, where thetopography starts to become more broken up finish in the Sierra de San Miguel.
The climate subtropical Mediterranean-type rom. The average annual temperature is 15.3 °C. Winters are generally mild with an average temperature of 7.3 °C summer is hot and dry with an average temperature of 24.2 °C. Seasonal The average rainfall is 586mm, with the rainy season in winter (227.6mm). Thesclerophyllous Mediterranean forests are made up ofoak along with other species including scrub,broom,lavender, androck rose.
Llerena declared itssister city status withSombrerete, located in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, on May 5, 1992.[2]
38°14′N6°01′W / 38.233°N 6.017°W /38.233; -6.017
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