| Guadalupe, “Puebla and Villa “ is a town located in the southern slope of the hill of Altamira of the mountain range of the Villuercas. It is 648m above sea level and it belongs to the province of Cáceres from 1833.
In this place, Virgin Maria appeared to Gil Cordero, simple shepherd from Cáceres, and it was found a Maria’s Image. A small hermitage was built there and they enthroned in it the prodigious Image, who received the name of Guadalupe. During Alfonso’s XI time, King of Castile and Leon, already was very known this Image and its small church. Alfonso XI, in his first visit to Guadalupe in 1330, contemplated this small church in ruinous state. Then he ordered to the extension and reconstruction of the church that, at the end of reform, 1336, was turned extensive Temple of mudejar style. Years later, 1340, King Alfonso XI trusted to Our Lady of Guadalupe the battle of the Salado, gained the victory, came to this Sanctuary to thank. Again he commanded to widen and to ennoble the Temple, giving to the set certain characteristic of fortress. In the same year, the King granted the Foundating Letter of the town. He ordered fifty persons were the first inhabitants. Monastery and town are merged from this date and the locality was growing round the monastery. Like curious piece of information about the first inhabitants of Guadalupe mention that in the lawsuit of Bonilla, 1508, the litigious Alonso Fernández de Bonilla assures that first settlers who went to inhabit Guadalupe were Jewish converts. In the urban area of this very old town there are wooden arcades and balconies characteristic in its popular architecture and they remember to us the medieval time. They were built by Christians, Jews and Moors during the 14th century. You can see them in the lower district: Sevilla, Chorro Gordo and Las Eras streets, Tres Chorros square and the Angel source. In the upper distric: Nueva, Capellanes, Real, Pasión, Logroño and Corredera streets. There are numerous arcs that comprised of the primitive walls and had doors to close the town. Actually the ones of St. Pedro, Sevilla, Las Eras, of El Tinte and Chorro Gordo remain. In the Mayor square there is a source, before baptism sink, in which Cristóbal Colón baptized the first natives brought from América in July, 29 of 1496, after his second travel. There are emphasized buildings as Gregorio López’s house, who was glosarist of Law of Partidas decreed by the King Alfonso X “The Wise”, Gil Cordero’s house, the Tourism National Inn, located in the old Men’s Hospital, named St. Juan Bautista and the School of Infants, as well as the Hospitals of Passion and of the Women. In these hospital surgical operations were made by the Jerónimos friars of the monastery of Guadalupe and are credited that they cured diseases infectious with Penicillium Notatum in 16th century, so that the epilepsy at first half of 18th century with a prescription of a friar named Juan of Mérida, born in Mérida (Badajoz). Nowadays their people continues working the copper the artesan way following the same technique for ages. The utensils made with this metal are pitchers, kettles, braziers, heaters were very useful in another time but now they are used for decoration in the houses. In the town, Guadalupe, is even conserved a foundry, next to the river, in which the copper was fused and later the craftsmen worked. The town of Guadalupe was declared Artistic Historical Monument the September 27, 1943 and Monumental Town Historical-Artistic the February 27, 1964. The Monastery was declared in 1993, by UNESCO, Patrimony of the Humanity |
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