Alcántara

Alcántara: Roman bridge

Alcántara, town, Cáceres provincia (province), in the Extremadura comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), western Spain, on a rock above the southern bank of the Tagus (Tajo) River just east of the Portuguese frontier. The walled town was named by the Moors after the six-arched Roman bridge Al-Qanṭarah (Arabic: “The Bridge”), which there spans the Tagus. Built in ad 105–106 in honour of the emperor Trajan, the bridge, 670 feet (204 metres) long, was destroyed by the Moors in 1214 but was restored in 1543 and many times since. It has been called “one of the noblest Roman monuments in Spain.” In 1218 Alcántara was given to an order of knights who, upon being given the town by Alfonso IX, took its name for their order. In addition to the bridge, notable landmarks include the church of Santa María de Almocóbar, dating from the 13th century, and that of San Benito (1576), which belonged to the convent (now in ruins). The town’s economy is based on agriculture and cattle raising. Pop. (2007 est.) mun., 1,684.