Alcázar de San Juan

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.

Alcázar de San Juan
Municipality
Old windmills.
Flag
Coat of arms
Alcázar de San Juan
Location in Spain.
Alcázar de San Juan
Alcázar de San Juan (Castilla-La Mancha)
Coordinates: 39°24′20″N 3°12′20″W
CountrySpain
Autonomous communityCastile-La Mancha
ProvinceCiudad Real
Government
 • MayorRosa Melchor (PSOE)
Area
 • Total666.78 km2 (257.45 sq mi)
Elevation
644 m (2,113 ft)
Population
 (2018)[1]
 • Total30,686
 • Density46/km2 (120/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Alcazareños
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
13600
WebsiteOfficial website

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).[2]

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.[2]

Alcázar de San Juan was a main railway hub on the Madrid–Valencia and Alcázar de San Juan–Cádiz lines. 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.[3]

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. Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
  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.
  3. SBHAC - Brigadas Mixtas del Ejército Popular, 3ª Brigada Mixta
  4. 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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