Alcántara
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Alcántara is a municipality (pop. 1769) in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain, on the Tagus, near Portugal. It is famed for its Roman bridge of six symmetrical arches, 194 m/670 feet long and 71 m/210 feet high, built in honour of Trajan in 104. An inscription gives the name of the architect of the viaduct, C. Iulius Lacer. The bridge carried the Roman road from Norba to Conimbriga.
The Order of Alcantara, a religious and military order, was established in 1176 here, for defence against the Moors, and was suppressed in 1835.
In 1499, Peter of Alcantara, teacher of Theresa of Avila, saint and Franciscan reformer was born here.
[edit] References
- Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Alcántara, Cáceres, Spain"
[edit] External links
- Structurae: Alcantara Bridge - data
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