Tudela, Navarre

Tudela
Municipality


Flag
Coat of arms
Tudela

Location in Spain

Coordinates: 42°03′55″N 1°36′24″W / 42.06528°N 1.60667°W / 42.06528; -1.60667
Country  Spain
Autonomous community  Navarra
Province Navarra
Comarca Ribera Tudelana
Judicial district Tudela
Government
 • Mayor Eneko Larrarte (Izquierda-Ezkerra)
Area
 • Total 215.7 km2 (83.3 sq mi)
Elevation 264 m (866 ft)
Population (2009)
 • Total 34,717
 • Density 160/km2 (420/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Tudelanos
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 31500
Website Official website

Tudela is a municipality in Spain, the second largest city of the autonomous community of Navarre. Its population is around 35,000. Tudela is sited in the Ebro valley. Fast trains running on two-track electrified railways serve the city and two freeways (AP 68 and AP 15) join close to it. Tudela is the capital of the "Ribera Navarra", the agricultural region of lower Navarre.

The poet Al-Tutili, the 12th century traveller Benjamin of Tudela, the 13th century writer William of Tudela and the physician and theologian Michael de Villanueva (true name of Servetus) were from the city.

Of note are the city's festivals in honor of Santa Ana (St. Anne, mother of Mary) which begin on 24 July at noon and continue for approximately one week. Street music, bullfights and the running of the bulls are events which exemplify this festival.

History

Fiestas in the Plaza Nueva or Plaza de los Fueros

Archeological excavations have shown that the area of Tudela has been populated since the lower paleolithic. The town of Tudela was founded by the Romans on Celt-Iberian settlements. Since then the town has been inhabited continuously. The Roman poet Marcus Valerius Martialis (Epigrams Book IV, 55) "recalls in grateful verse" the town of Tutela next to his own native Bilbilis. The city was later taken under the Muslim emirate of Al-Hakam I in 802 by Amrus ibn Yusuf al-Muwalad.

At the beginning of the 9th century, the strategic importance of Tudela as a site on the river Ebro was enhanced by historical and political circumstances. It turned into the base of the Banu Qasi family of Muladis, local magnates converted to Islam that managed to be independent of the emirs, establishing an on-off alliance and close dynastic bonds with the kings of Pamplona during the whole century. With the power of the Banu Qasi fading at the onset of 10th century, the town fell under the influence of the rising Caliphate of Córdoba and had to come up against a more aggressive policy on the part of the new dynasty ruling in Pamplona, the Ximenes, who had set up close ties with their neighbour Christian realms.

The town was used by Muslims as a bridge-head to fight against the expanding Kingdom of Navarre. When Christians under Alfonso the Battler conquered Tudela in 1119, three different communities where living there: Muslim, Mozarab and Jewish. In the aftermath of the conquest, community relations appear to have been strained and Muslims were forced to live in a suburb outside the town walls, whereas Jews continued to reside inside the walls (see Jews in Tudela). The co-existence of different cultures is reflected in Tudela's reputation for producing important medieval writers such as Al-Tutili. In 1157 the English scholar Robert of Ketton, first translator of the Koran to a Western tongue (Latin), became a canon of Tudela.

The Jews were banished in 1498 (the expulsion from Navarre being slightly later than in the rest of Spain). Muslims and Moriscos were expelled in 1516 and 1610 respectively. There are still examples of Islamic-influenced architecture in the city - the style the Spanish call Mudéjar; but the principal mosque was turned over to the Church in 1121, and by the end of the 12th century construction of the cathedral had begun.

Later Tudela became an important defensive point for the Kingdom of Navarre in battles with Castile and Aragon. Tudela was an Agramont party stronghold and actually the last Navarrese one to surrender to Ferdinand II of Aragon's Aragonese troops in the initial 1512 Spanish invasion of Navarre, only doing so to avoid futile bloodshed, Spanish pillaging and further confiscations to town dwellers, after the Navarrese king failed to send a relief force.

At the end of the 17th century, the new public square was built, called Plaza Nueva or Plaza de los Fueros, which became the main city centre.

On November 23, 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte's Marshal Lannes won the Battle of Tudela in the Peninsular War. The train station was built in 1861, which, together with the agricultural revolution, resulted in a new period of expansion for the city.

Main sights

Puerta del Juicio
Monreal Tower

Gastronomy

The Casa Salinas bakery in Tudela, reputed for its excellent mantecadas, closed down in January 2011.[1] Other traditional desserts are manjar blanco and cafareles.[2]

Education

People

Twin towns

References

  1. ↑ Cierra Casa Salinas, la pastelería más antigua de Tudela con 138 años de historia
  2. ↑ Eating and drinking in Tudela

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tudela.

Coordinates: 42°3′55″N 1°36′24″W / 42.06528°N 1.60667°W / 42.06528; -1.60667

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, June 20, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.