Alcázar de San Juan

Alcázar de San Juan
Municipality
Old windmills.

Flag
Coat of arms
Alcázar de San Juan
Location in Spain.
Coordinates: 39°24′20″N 3°12′20″W / 39.40556°N 3.20556°W / 39.40556; -3.20556
Country  Spain
Autonomous community Castile-La Mancha
Province Ciudad Real
Comarca Campo de San Juan
Judicial district Alcázar de San Juan
Commonwealth Promancha
Government
 • Mayor Diego Ortega (PP)
Area
 • Total 666.78 km2 (257.45 sq mi)
Elevation 644 m (2,113 ft)
Population (2016)
 • Total 30,967
 • Density 46/km2 (120/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Alcazareños
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code 13600
Website Official website

Alcázar de San Juan (often called simply Alcázar or Alcázar de Consuegra) is a town and municipality in the province of Ciudad Real, part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is located in the plain of La Mancha.

History

Its name is taken from an old moorish fortress (al-qaSsr in Arabic language), which was afterwards garrisoned by the knights of St John (San Juan in Spanish language).[1]

Much of the action of Cervantes' Don Quixote takes place near Alcázar. The village of El Toboso (20 miles) was the home of the Lady Dulcinea del Toboso; Argamasilla de Alba (26 miles) is declared by some to be the birthplace of the original Don Quixote himself.[1]

Alcázar de San Juan was a main railway hub. The famous Third Mixed Brigade (Tercera Brigada Mixta) of the Spanish Republican Army was established in Alcázar de San Juan in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War.[2]

Main sights

  • Old windmills
  • Tower of the Grand Prior (14th century)
  • Church of St. Mary Major (13th-15th centuries)
  • Church of St. Francis of Assisi (14th-15th centuries)
  • Convent of St. Claire (16th century)
Holy Trinity Church.
Saint Francis Church.

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alcázar de San Juan". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 518.
  2. ↑ SBHAC - Brigadas Mixtas del Ejército Popular, 3ª Brigada Mixta
  3. ↑ Online J. Ruyz, "El 150 aniversario del pintor Ángel Lizcano", Añil: Cuadernos de Castilla - La Mancha, ISSN=1133-2263, Nº 11, 1996, pgs. 45-46


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