FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129  
130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   >>   >|  
13,929) is one of the chief market towns of La Mancha. Education is very backward, largely owing to the extreme poverty which has frequently brought the inhabitants to the verge of famine. (See also CASTILE.) CIUDAD REAL, the capital formerly of La Mancha, and since 1833 of the province described above; 107 m. S. of Madrid, on the Madrid-Badajoz-Lisbon and Ciudad Real-Manzanares railways. Pop. (1900) 15,255. Ciudad Real lies in the midst of a wide plain, watered on the north by the river Guadiana, and on the south by its tributary the Jabalon. Apart from the remnants of its 13th-century fortifications, and one Gothic church of immense size, built without aisles, the town contains little of interest; its public buildings--town-hall, barracks, churches, hospital and schools--being in no way distinguished above those of other provincial capitals. There are no important local manufactures, and the trade of the town consists chiefly in the weekly sales of agricultrural produce and live-stock. Ciudad Real was founded by Alphonso X. of Castile (1252-1284), and fortified by him as a check upon the Moorish power. Its original name of _Villarreal_ was changed to _Ciudad Real_ by John VI. in 1420. During the Peninsular War a Spanish force was defeated here by the French, on the 27th of March 1809. CIUDAD RODRIGO, a town of western Spain, in the province of Salamanca, situated 8 m. E. of the Portuguese frontier, on the right bank of the river Agueda, and the railway from Salamanca to Coimbra in Portugal. Pop. (1900) 8930. Ciudad Rodrigo is an episcopal see, and was for many centuries an important frontier fortress. Its cathedral dates from 1190, but was restored in the 15th century. The remnants of a Roman aqueduct, the foundations of a bridge across the Agueda, and other remains, seem to show that Ciudad Rodrigo occupies the site of a Roman settlement. It was founded in the 12th century by Count Rodrigo Gonzalez, from whom its name is derived. During the Peninsular War, it was captured by the French under Marshal Ney, in 1810; but on the 19th of January 1812 it was retaken by the British under Viscount Wellington, who, for this exploit, was created earl of Wellington, duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, and marquess of Torres Vedras, in Portugal. CIVERCHIO, VINCENZO, an early 16th-century Italian painter, born at Crema. There are altar-pieces by him at Brescia, and at Crema the altar-piece at the duomo (1509). His "Birt
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129  
130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Ciudad
 

Rodrigo

 

century

 

important

 

remnants

 
Peninsular
 
Wellington
 

Portugal

 
Agueda
 

During


French

 

frontier

 
Salamanca
 

founded

 
Mancha
 

province

 
Madrid
 
CIUDAD
 

restored

 

cathedral


Education

 

centuries

 

fortress

 

aqueduct

 

occupies

 

remains

 

foundations

 

bridge

 

backward

 

poverty


situated

 
western
 

RODRIGO

 

Portuguese

 

extreme

 
largely
 

Coimbra

 
railway
 

episcopal

 
VINCENZO

Italian
 

CIVERCHIO

 
Vedras
 
marquess
 

Torres

 

painter

 
Brescia
 

pieces

 
created
 

exploit