Badajoz: a Town full of History for your Holiday in Spain

A historical look at the Town of Badajoz while on your HOLIDAY RENTALS IN SPAIN. Badajoz is the capital of its own province: a city rich in medieval history that has played its part in various French and Allied wars from the early 1600s. The visual impression of the ruins of a Moorish castle, with strong walls and bastions the fort of San Cristobel resembles a massive fortress built in 1238. The city lies 614 feet above sea level on top of a hillside overlooking the rivers Rivillas and Guadiana which meet at the foot of the hill. Just 8 kilometres from the city is the border with Portugal. Today Badajoz enjoys considerable trade with Portugal with the manufacture of linen, woollen and leather goods as its principal trading products.

There is little early history and although some Roman villas have been discovered during archaeological digs, there is no documentation from the early Romans in the area and no mention of the town in ancient archives. Early Visigoths are believed to have settled here too but like the Romans there is no real proof apart from a few settlement buildings. It was a Muslim nobleman Ibn Marwan who founded the city in around 875 after he had been expelled from the nearby Mèrida, now the capital of Extremadura. The city under its founder became an autonomous rebel state which was quenched in the early part of the 10th century. By 1022 Batlabus or Batalyos, the original name of Badajoz, became the capital of the small Moorish kingdom Taifa of Badajoz with around 25,000 inhabitants. Portugal temporarily held the town in 1168 until it regained its independence in 1229 when Alfonso IX of Leon took control.

The fortress town of Badajoz was involved in many ongoing battles. It was beleaguered by the Portuguese until they took control in the 1600s and again in 1705 by the Allies during the War of Spanish Succession. It was also unsuccessfully attacked by the French in 1808 and 1809. The Spanish commander José Imaz though on March 10th 1811 surrendered the town to the French for a bribe. A siege commanded by the British Marshal William Beresford tried to retake the town and although they managed to defeat a relieving force at Albuera, they ended up abandoning the siege in June. In 1812 The Duke of Wellington again attacked the town of Badajoz and although suffering 5000 British casualties, the Duke managed to take the town. Military discipline disappeared for two days as the town was plagued by the British survivors as they raped and pillaged. The only way to regain control was to erect gallows and flog many of the insubordinate. An uprising of the military and republicans took place in 1883 although it was doomed to failure, However Spanish Nationalists did manage to take control of the city during the Spanish Civil War.

The Roman Gothic cathedral was built in 1230 by King Alfonso IX by adapting the then former mosque outside the citadel. It was consecrated and dedicated to St John the Baptist in 1270 although at the time it was unfinished and work continued until the 15th century. As the building is outside the citadel, the church has a fortress like appearance. Within Badajoz, there are many different historic buildings to see. The Espantaperros Tower is one of the flanking towers defending a small bridge. It is also known as the Atalaya Tower. The Seville Torre del Oro was built a century later is based upon the Badajoz Espantaperros Tower. While Seville copied the Espantaperros Tower, Badajoz replicated the famous Giralda of Seville, building La Giralda of Badajoz in 1935. The Extremaduran and Latin American Museum opened in 1995: this sits on the site of the original fort that had been turned into a prison during the 1950s. As you can see from its background, this really was a fortress city with a long and bloody history and so worth every moment of your time when on HOLIDAY RENTALS IN SPAIN.