Benavente, Zamora

Benavente
Plaza del Ayuntamiento in Benavente.
Coat of arms
Benavente Location in Spain.
Coordinates: 42°0′11″N 5°40′27″W / 42.00306°N 5.67417°W / 42.00306; -5.67417
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Castile and León
Province	Zamora
Comarca	Benavente y Los Valles
Government
• Mayor	Luciano Huerga
Area
• Total	45.12 km2 (17.42 sq mi)
Elevation	800 m (2,600 ft)
Population (2009)
• Total	19,119
• Density	420/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Benaventanos
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Climate	Csb
Website	Official website

Benavente is a town and municipality in the north of the province of Zamora, in the autonomous community Castile and León of Spain. It has about 20,000 inhabitants.

Located north of the capital on an important communications hub, it was repopulated by King Ferdinand II of León, who also awarded it law-codes (a fuero) in 1167. It was originally known as Malgrat or Malgrado.

Location

Benavente is located in the North of Province of Zamora, in the North-West of Spain. It is 65 km away from Zamora City and 260 km from Madrid and its coordinates are 42° 0' N 5° 41' W.

North-West: Manganeses de la Polvorosa	North: Villabrázaro	North-East: San Cristóbal de Entreviñas
West: Santa Cristina de la Polvorosa		East: San Cristóbal de Entreviñas
South-West:Santa Cristina de la Polvorosa	South: Villanueva de Azoague, Santa Colomba de las Monjas and Arcos de la Polvorosa	South-East: Castrogonzalo

The adjacent municipalities of Benavente are Villanueva de Azoague, Manganeses de la Polvorosa, Santa Cristina de la Polvorosa, Villabrázaro, San Cristóbal de Entreviñas, Castrogonzalo, Santa Colomba de las Monjas and Arcos de la Polvorosa, all of them belonging to Province of Zamora.

Transport

Tourism

Main sight

The Tower of the Caracol.

Church of Santa María de Azogue.

• Parador de Turismo Fernando II, which occupies the Caracol Tower, a 16th-century castle with wide segmental miradors and a Mudéjar coffered ceiling in the main section
• Church of Santa María de Azogue, in Romanesque style, begun in 1180. It has a Latin cross plan, with a nave and two aisles, separated by cruciform pilasters, with five apses. The nave has Gothic cross vaults added in the 16th century. The interior is home of several Gothic sculptures, such as that of the "Annunciation" (13th century)
• San Juan del Mercado, in Romanesque style (12th-13th centuries). It has three decorated portals with the Adoration of the Magi, the Virgin and Child and scenes of the birth of Jesus.

Hospital of La Piedad.

• Hospital of La Piedad, an old pilgrim hostel.
• Hermitage of Soledad (early 16th century)
• Caracol Tower

Events

An enraged bull (2005).

• Fiestas de la Veguilla. The local celebration in honour of the Virgen de la Vega to celebrate the torno al llamado (Monday of Pascuilla).
• Fiestas del toro enmaromado. Celebrated the day before the corpus, where the young men run (Running of the Bulls) in front of a long rope held on the horns of a bull.

Accommodation

Parador de Turismo Rey Fernando II.

Hotels

• "Parador de Turismo Rey Fernando II de León" (H****) Paseos de la Mota, s/n
• "Villa de Benavente" (H ****) Avda. de las Américas, s/n
• "Santiago" (H ***) Avda. Maragatos, 34
• "Orense" (H **) C/ San Antón Viejo, 4
• "Arenas" (H *) Ctra. de Madrid, Km 261

Hostels

• "Hostal Avenida" (HS**) Avda. El Ferial, 17
• "Bristol" (HS**) C/ Santa Cruz, 44.
• "Universal" (HS**) C/ Sancti Spíritus, 17
• "Alameda" (HS**) Autovía Madrid - Coruña km. 262
• "Covadonga" (HS**) Avenida Federico Silva, 16
• "Paradero 3" (HS*) Autovía Madrid – Coruña Km 261
• "Paraíso" (HS *) C/ los Herreros, 64
• "La Trucha" (HS) C/ la Viña, 5
• "Jara" (HS) Autovía Madrid-Coruña km. 261
• "Pensión La Trapería" (P) C/Agujero de San Andrés, 10

Climate

It is characterized as a Mediterranean climate with continental characteristics as with the altitude of the municipality and its distance to the sea. However, the amount of the winter frosts is lifted, taking place even in spring, with the consequential damage to some of the local agriculture.

Twin towns – sister cities

• Puebla de Zaragoza, Puebla, México.
• Vila Real, Portugal.

Dukes of Benavente

Portrait of Juan Alonso Pimentel de Herrera. Museum Bonnat, Bayonne, France

Juan Francisco Pimentel y Ponce de León, 7th Duke of Benavente, deceased 1652, by Diego Velázquez, 1648.

Notable people

• José Carlos Guerra, painter.^[1][2]
• Maria Josefa Alfonso Pîmentel Tellez Girón Borja y Centelles, fourteenth Countess and twelfth Duchess of Benavente, a patron of Goya and Boccherini
• Fray Toribio de Benavente o Motolinía (1477–1569), a missionary to Mexico
• Alonso Briceño, one of the thirteen conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro
• Pita Pizarro (1792–1845), a minister of Isabella II of Spain
• Francisco de Castro Pascual (1871–1949), microbiologist
• José Nuñez Pernía (1805–1879), a Marquis of Nuñez and the first president of the Sociedad Hahnemanniana Matritense
• Pedro Nuñez Granés (1869–1944), engineer
• Celestino Alonso Rodríguez Valdespino (1828–1875), chess player
• Federico Silva Muñoz (1923–1997), politician
• Laura Iglesias Romero, a scientist who does research for the CSIC
• Francisco Jose Yndurain Muñoz (1940–2008), scientist
• Almudena Fernández (born 1977), model

Language

Regional speech is influenced by Leonese language.

Cinemas and theatres

• "Reina Sofía" Theatre.^[3]
• "Multicines Benavente" Cinema.^[4]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Benavente, Zamora.

• List of municipalities in Zamora
• San Pedro De Zamudia, Zamora
• Sandin, Zamora
• Almudena Fernandez - Famous model from Benavente.

References