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Plasencia
«Plasencia tiene dos catedrales juntas en el centro histórico.»Plasencia has two cathedrals together in the historic centre.
Plasencia is in the north of the province of Cáceres, on the Jerte river, where the valleys rising towards the sierra begin. It was founded in 1186 by Alfonso VIII as a border stronghold and preserves its walls, a 16th-century aqueduct, and two attached cathedrals: the old one and the new one, which was never finished.
Did you know
Two cathedrals joined together.
The city possesses two cathedrals fused together: a 13th-century Romanesque-Gothic one and a Baroque one started in the 16th century that was never completed.
How they talk in Plasencia
«Placentino» is the demonym and «Jerte» is a daily reference for the valley, river and agricultural products. The local Castilian shares the aspiration of the final «s» typical of part of Extremadura.
acho
Hey; friend; boy, as a call or interjection. In informal speech it calls the interlocutor or introduces surprise, protest, complicity, and other reactions according to the intonation.
Everyday life in Plasencia
The Tuesday market since 1189
Alfonso VIII granted the free market more than eight hundred years ago and since then every Tuesday the Plaza Mayor fills with stalls. It is not a reenactment: it is the weekly shopping.
«El martes hay mercado en la plaza.» — On Tuesday there is a market in the square.
The «catedral vieja» and the new one, attached
The old and the new are right next to each other, because work on the second stopped halfway through and the first was not torn down. You pass from one to the other through an internal door.
The cherry trees of the Jerte in blossom
At the end of March the nearby valley turns white for two weeks, a million and a half trees all together, and people go on trips specifically for it. The dates are announced every year because they change.
«El valle está en flor.» — The valley is in blossom.
What to eat in Plasencia
Cerezas del Jerte
The cherries from the valley right next door, without stems, which ripen between May and June.
Migas extremeñas
Bread soaked and sautéed with garlic and pancetta, served with grapes.
Cabrito al horno
Kid goat from the sierra roasted with garlic, lard and white wine.
Torta del Casar
Creamy pecorino that is opened at the top and eaten with a spoon.
Festivals in Plasencia
Martes Mayor
the first Tuesday of August
The Tuesday market, which has been held since 1189, becomes enormous for one day: the Plaza Mayor and all the surrounding streets.
What to see in Plasencia
Catedral Vieja y Nueva
Two cathedrals attached to one another: they started the new one without demolishing the old one, and then they ran out of money.
Acueducto de Plasencia
Fifty-three arches up to eighteen metres high, which brought water inside the walls.
Murallas y Torre Lucía
The stretch of medieval walls that remains, with the tower that served as a control post.
Plaza Mayor
The arcaded square, with the Tuesday market that has been held here since 1189.
Where Plasencia comes from
«So that it may please God and men»
1186
The foundation
Alfonso VIII founds the city and gives it the motto «Ut placeat Deo et hominibus».
13th–15th century
The two cathedrals
The old cathedral is built, then the new one is started without ever finishing the first.
16th century
The Zúñigas
The Zúñiga family makes it a duchy: the palaces and the aqueduct arrive.
19th century → today
Plasencia
It becomes the service centre for the north of the province, on the road towards the Vía de la Plata.
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