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ALCALA DE HENARES - SPAIN
Alcalá de Henares is a Spanish city. Located in
the autonomous community of Madrid, 30 km northeast of the city of Madrid,
it has a population of around 200,000.
The city is of Roman origin - the only Roman town in the Madrid region - its
Latin name being Complutum. It was refounded in 1083 by the Moors, who built
a castle or al-qalat on a nearby hill, today known as Alcalá la Vieja (Old
Alcalá). Its Christian conquerors preferred the Burgo de Santiuste ("Saint
Just's borough") on the original Roman site. The city was ceded to the
Bishopric of Toledo, Spain. The present name literally means "castle on the
[river] Henares". Under Christian rule, the city sported both a Jewish and a
Moorish quarter.
At some time in
the 1480s Christopher Columbus had his first meeting here with the Reyes
Católicos, Ferdinand and Isabella. In 1496, Cardinal Cisneros founded the
Universidad Complutense, which became famous as a centre of learning during
the Renaissance. It was moved to Madrid in 1836 (under the name Universidad
Central de Madrid). A new university was founded in the old buildings as the
Universidad de Alcalá de Henares in 1977. The city suffered severe damage
during the Spanish Civil War.
The author Miguel de Cervantes was born in Alcalá de Henares, as were
Ferdinand I of Aragon and Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII
of England. Other notable figures associated with the city include the
theologian Gabriel Vázquez, the mystic John of the Cross, the Holy Roman
Emperor Ferdinand I, and President Manuel Manuel Azaña, the last president
of the Second Spanish Republic.
Alcalá's excellent transport links with Madrid have led to its becoming a
commuter town, with many of its inhabitants travelling to work in the
capital. It was affected particularly badly by the March 11, 2004 terrorist
attacks in Madrid as the bombed trains all originated at or passed through
Alcalá.
A large part of the new population are immigrants from Eastern Europe.
Alcalá de Henares, as the birthplace of Catherine of Aragon, is twinned with
the city of Peterborough in the United Kingdom, her final resting-place.
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