Benavente, Zamora
Encyclopedia
Benavente is a municipality
in the north of the province of Zamora, in the autonomous community
Castile and León
of Spain. It has about 20,000 inhabitants.
Located north of the capital on an important communications hub, it was repopulated by King Ferdinand II of León
, who also awarded it law-codes in 1167.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in the north of the province of Zamora, in the autonomous community
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
Castile and León
Castile and León
Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
of Spain. It has about 20,000 inhabitants.
Located north of the capital on an important communications hub, it was repopulated by King Ferdinand II of León
Ferdinand II of Leon
Ferdinand II was King of León and Galicia from 1157 to his death.-Life:Born in Toledo, Castile, he was the son of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile and of Berenguela, of the House of Barcelona. At his father's death, he received León and Galicia, while his brother Sancho received Castile and...
, who also awarded it law-codes in 1167.
Main sights
- Parador de Turismo Fernando II, which occupies the Caracol Tower, a 16th century castle with wide segmental miradors and a MudéjarMudéjarMudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...
coffered ceiling in the main section - church of Santa María de Azogue, in Romanesque styleRomanesque architectureRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
, begun in 1180. It has a Latin cross plan, with a nave and two aisles, separated by cruciform pilasters, with five apses. The nave has Gothic cross vaults added in the 16th century. The interior is home of several Gothic sculptures, such as that of the "Annunciation" (13th century) - San Juan del Mercado, in Romanesque style (12th-13th centuries). It has three decorated portals with the Adoration of the Magi, the Virgin and Child and scenes of the birth of Jesus.
- hospital of La Piedad, an old pilgrim hostel.
- Hermitage of Soledad (early 16th century)
- Caracol Tower
Climate
It is characterized as a Mediterranean climate with continental characteristics as with the altitude of the municipality and its distance to the sea. However, the amount of the winter frosts is lifted, taking place even in spring, with the consequential damage to some of the local agriculture.Dukes of Benavente
| Titular | Period | |
|---|---|---|
| Primera creación por Enrique II | ||
| I | Fadrique de Castilla y Ponce de León | 1370–1394 |
| Segunda creación por Enrique IV | ||
| I | Rodrigo Alonso Pimentel | 1473- |
| II | Alonso Pimentel y Pacheco | |
| III | Antonio Alonso Pimentel y Herrera de Velasco | |
| IV | Luis Alonso Pimentel Herrera y Enríquez de Velasco | |
| V | Juan Alonso Pimentel Herrera y Enríquez de Velasco | |
| VI | Antonio Alonso Pimentel y Quiñones | |
| VII | Juan Francisco Pimentel y Ponce de León Juan Francisco Pimentel, 7th Duke of Benavente Juan Francisco Pimentel, 7th Duke of Benavente, a Ducal title going back to January 1473 by king Henry IV of Castile, a.k.a. Juan Francisco Alonso Pimentel y Ponce de León, , a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1648, number 421, 10th Count and 7th Duke of Benavente, 10th Count of Mayorga,... |
|
| VIII | Antonio Alonso Pimentel y Herrera Zúñiga | |
| IX | Francisco Casimiro Pimentel de Quiñones y Benavides | |
| X | Antonio Francisco Pimentel de Zúñiga y Vigil de Quiñones | |
| XI | Francisco Alonso Pimentel Vigil de Quiñones Borja Aragón y Centelles | |
| XII | María Josefa Pimentel, Duchess of Osuna | |
| XIII | Francisco de Borja Téllez-Girón y Alfonso Pimentel | |
| XIV | Pedro de Alcántara Téllez-Girón y Beaufort Spontin | |
| XV | Mariano Téllez-Girón y Beaufort Spontin | |
| XVI | Pedro de Alcántara Téllez-Girón y Fernández de Santillán | |
| XVII | Ángela María Téllez-Girón y Duque de Estrada | actual tituar |
Notable people
- José Carlos Guerra, painter.
- Maria Josefa Alfonso Pîmentel Tellez Girón Borja y Centelles, fourteenth Countess and twelfth Duchess of Benavente, a patron of Goya and Boccherini
- Fray Toribio de Benavente o Motolinía (1477–1569), a missionary to Mexico
- Alonso Briceño, one of the thirteen conquistadorConquistadorConquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
s led by Francisco PizarroFrancisco PizarroFrancisco Pizarro González, Marquess was a Spanish conquistador, conqueror of the Incan Empire, and founder of Lima, the modern-day capital of the Republic of Peru.-Early life:... - Pita Pizarro (1792–1845), a minister of Isabella II of SpainIsabella II of SpainIsabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
- Francisco de Castro Pascual (1871–1949), microbiologistMicrobiologyMicrobiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...
- José Nuñez Pernía (1805–1879), a Marquis of Nuñez and the first president of the Sociedad Hahnemanniana Matritense
- Pedro Nuñez Granés (1869–1944), engineer
- Celestino Alonso Rodríguez Valdespino (1828–1875), chess player
- Federico Silva Muñoz (1923–1997), politician
- Laura Iglesias Romero, a scientist who does research for the CSICCSICThe Spanish National Research Council is the largest public institution dedicated to research in Spain and the third largest in Europe...
- Francisco Jose Yndurain MuñozFrancisco Jose Yndurain MuñozFrancisco Jose Yndurain Muñoz was a Spanish theoretical physicist. He founded the particle physics research group that became the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Autonomous University of Madrid, where he was a Professor...
(1940–2008), scientist - Almudena FernándezAlmudena Fernandez- Early life :She was born at Benavente, in the province of Zamora.Fernández began her professional career at an early age, leaving Madrid in search for a path that would take her to Milan, Paris, and finally New York, where she has established her home for the past few years.- Modeling :Fernández...
(born 1977), model
Events
- Fiestas de la Veguilla. The local celebration in honour of the Virgen de la Vega to celebrate the torno al llamado (Monday of Pascuilla).
- Fiestas del toro enmaromado. Celebrated the day before the corpus, where the young men run (Running of the Bulls) in front of a long rope held on the horns of a bull.
See also
- List of municipalities in Zamora
- San Pedro De Zamudia, ZamoraSan Pedro De Zamudia, Zamora-History:San Pedro de Zamudia is a small town and is in the autonomous community Castile-Leon of Spain. It has about 86 inhabitants.At its most busy during the summer months where people come from other surrounding areas to the town where maybe they grew up or have family from there.The town...
- Sandin, ZamoraSandin, ZamoraSandín is a small village in the north of the province of Zamora in the autonomous community Castile-Leon of Spain. It has about 55 inhabitants and an altitude of 716meters....
- Almudena FernandezAlmudena Fernandez- Early life :She was born at Benavente, in the province of Zamora.Fernández began her professional career at an early age, leaving Madrid in search for a path that would take her to Milan, Paris, and finally New York, where she has established her home for the past few years.- Modeling :Fernández...
- Famous model from Benavente.