1.
Province of Lleida
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The Province of Lleida is one of the four provinces of Catalonia. It is often referred to as Ponent. It is the province within Catalonia that is landlocked. Of the population of 414,015, about 30% live in the capital, some other towns in Lleida province are La Seu dUrgell, Mollerussa, Cervera, Tàrrega, Balaguer. There are 231 municipalities in Lleida, located in the Pyrenees, the Aran Valley is a special comarca with greater autonomy and with Aranese, a variety of Occitan, as its official language. The Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park is located in this province, the province enjoys a thriving fruit-growing industry, including pears and peaches. The plan is on hold for the time being, one example of the pronunciation is the a at the end of the word that is pronounced like an e. The local dialect, properly known as North-Western Catalan is part of the Western Catalan block, the Province of Lleida is the only one in Catalonia where a language other than Catalan is native, Occitan, in the Aran Valley. In terms of its environment, Lleida offers a wide variety of landscapes. In the high area of the Pyrenees, visitors will find nature in its purest form. Special mention should be made of, the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, which is the only National Park in Catalonia, and the Alt Pirineu and Cadí-Moixeró natural parks. In the Pre-Pyrenees, amongst other places of interest, visitors find the Collegats-Terradets Territorial Park, the Boumort Natural Hunting Reserve. In contrast, the Lleida Plain offers more peaceful landscapes, in some cases, these are rather sober, while in others, visitors will find fertile land with century-old olive trees, fruit trees, meadows and crop fields. In this area, it is relevant to highlight such spectacular settings as the Estany dIvars i Vila-sana pool. This area is also Spains leading ski destination, Lleida has 11 different ski resorts which are marketed under the brand Neu de Lleida and offer over 450 km of ski slopes. Their 81 ski lifts have the capacity to carry 115,000 skiers per hour and it is also important to pick out some of the many new initiatives that have helped to extend the seasonal offer of Lleidas tourism sector. These buildings coexist with equally interesting modern constructions such as La Llotja, in recent years, improved communications have also helped to strengthen Lleidas position as one of the Spains leading tourist destinations. The Patronat de Turisme of the Diputació de Lleida created the Ara Lleida tourism brand back in 1990 with the aim of promoting the whole of this territory, llista de monuments de Lleida Patronat de Turisme Diputació de Lleida Xanascat the National Network of Youth Hostels of Catalonia
Province of Lleida
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Seu Vella in
Lleida.
Province of Lleida
Province of Lleida
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Monastery of Santa Maria de Bellpuig de les Avellanes.
2.
Catalan language
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Catalan is a Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin and named after the medieval Principality of Catalonia, in northeastern modern Spain and adjoining parts of France. It is the national and only language of Andorra, and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands. It also has status in the commune of Alghero, situated on the northwestern coast of the island of Sardinia. All these territories are often called Catalan Countries. 4% with Catalan and 47. 5% only Spanish, in order to integrate newcomers, the Generalitat de Catalunya spends part of its annual budget on the promotion of the use of Catalan in Catalonia and in other territories. Catalan evolved from Vulgar Latin in the Middle Ages around the eastern Pyrenees, during the Low Middle Ages it saw a golden age as the literary and dominant language of the Crown of Aragon, and was widely used all over the Mediterranean. The union of Aragon with the territories of Spain in 1479 marked the start of the decline of the language. In 1659 Spain ceded Northern Catalonia to France, and Catalan was banned in both states in the early 18th century, 19th-century Spain saw a Catalan literary revival, which culminated in the 1913 orthographic standardization, and the official status of the language during the Second Spanish Republic. However, the Francoist dictatorship banned the use of Catalan in schools and in the public administration, there is no parallel in Europe for such a large, bilingual, non-state speech community. Catalan dialects are relatively uniform, and are mutually intelligible and they are divided into two blocks, Eastern and Western, differing mostly in pronunciation. The terms Catalan and Valencian are two varieties of the same language, there are two institutions regulating the two standard varieties, the Institute of Catalan Studies in Catalonia and the Valencian Academy of the Language in the Valencian Community. Catalan shares many traits with its neighboring Romance languages, thus, the similarities are naturally most notable with eastern Occitan. Nouns have two genders, and two numbers, pronouns additionally can have a neuter gender, and some are also inflected for case and politeness, and can be combined in very complex ways. Verbs are split in several paradigms and are inflected for person, number, tense, aspect, mood, in terms of pronunciation, Catalan has many words ending in a wide variety of consonants and some consonant clusters, in contrast with many other Romance languages. The word Catalan derives from the territory of Catalonia, itself of disputed etymology, in English, the term referring to a person first appears in the mid 14th century as Catelaner, followed in the 15th century as Catellain. It is attested a language name since at least 1652, Catalan can be pronounced as /ˈkætəlæn/, /kætəˈlæn/ or /ˈkætələn/. The endonym is pronounced /kə. təˈɫa/ in the Eastern Catalan dialects, in the Valencian Community, the term valencià is frequently used instead. The names Catalan and Valencian are two names for the same language, see also status of Valencian below. By the 9th century, Catalan had evolved from Vulgar Latin on both sides of the end of the Pyrenees, as well as the territories of the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis to the south
Catalan language
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Homilies d'Organyà (12th century)
Catalan language
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Catalan
Catalan language
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Fragment of the Greuges de Guitard Isarn (ca. 1080–1095), one of the earliest texts written almost completely in Catalan, predating the famous
Homilies d'Organyà by a century
Catalan language
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Official Decree Prohibiting the Catalan Language in France
3.
Spanish language
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Spanish —also called Castilian —is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain, with hundreds of millions of native speakers around the world. It is usually considered the worlds second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese and it is one of the few languages to use inverted question and exclamation marks. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Beginning in the early 16th century, Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania, around 75% of modern Spanish is derived from Latin. Greek has also contributed substantially to Spanish vocabulary, especially through Latin, Spanish vocabulary has been in contact from an early date with Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula. With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin, this language is the second most important influence after Latin and it has also been influenced by Basque as well as by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages. It also adopted words from languages such as Gothic language from the Visigoths in which many Spanish names and surnames have a Visigothic origin. Spanish is one of the six languages of the United Nations. It is the language in the world by the number of people who speak it as a mother tongue, after Mandarin Chinese. It is estimated more than 437 million people speak Spanish as a native language. Spanish is the official or national language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, speakers in the Americas total some 418 million. In the European Union, Spanish is the tongue of 8% of the population. Spanish is the most popular second language learned in the United States, in 2011 it was estimated by the American Community Survey that of the 55 million Hispanic United States residents who are five years of age and over,38 million speak Spanish at home. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the language of the whole Spanish State in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas. Article III reads as follows, El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado, las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas. Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State, the other Spanish languages as well shall be official in their respective Autonomous Communities. The Spanish Royal Academy, on the hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. Two etymologies for español have been suggested, the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary derives the term from the Provençal word espaignol, and that in turn from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus, from—or pertaining to—Hispania
Spanish language
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A page of
Cantar de Mio Cid, the oldest preserved Spanish
epic poem, in medieval Spanish.
Spanish language
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Spanish is sole official language at the national level
Spanish language
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Antonio de Nebrija, author of
Gramática de la lengua castellana, the first grammar of modern European languages.
Spanish language
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Miguel de Cervantes author of
Don Quixote, considered the first modern European novel.
4.
Municipalities of Catalonia
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Catalonia is divided into 948 municipalities. Each municipality typically represents one significant urban settlement, of any size from village to city and this is not always the case, though. Many municipalities have merged as a result of rural depopulation or simply for greater efficiency, some large urban areas, for example Barcelona, consist of more than one municipality, each of which previously held a separate settlement. Each municipality is run by an elected by the residents at periodic nationwide local elections. The council consists of a number of depending on population. The town hall is located in the settlement, and deals with provision of local services. The main settlement is not always the biggest settlement, as new developments such as tourist resorts can become very big very quickly without achieving any political recognition. Boundaries between municipalities have their origins in ancient landholdings and transfers, and may appear quite arbitrary and illogical. Catalonias municipalities are grouped into 42 comarques and four provinces, occasional revisions of the boundaries of comarcas have resulted in municipalities moving from one comarca to another, see the list at Comarques of Catalonia
Municipalities of Catalonia
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Catalonia, with its municipalities, comarques, and provinces
5.
La Seu Vella
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The Cathedral of St. Mary of La Seu Vella is the former cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lleida, in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain, located on top of Lleida hill. In 1707, the Gothic cathedral was turned into a citadel by decision of King Philip V of Spain. The new cathedral, known as the Seu Nova and located downhill at Carrer Major, was consecrated in 1781, nevertheless, the Seu Vella is the defining monument of Lleida, the symbol of the city, being visible from its hilltop site anywhere in the city. The site was occupied by a Palaeo-Christian and Visigothic cathedral. In 1149, after the citys conquest by the Christian Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and Ermengol VI of Urgell, the structure was reconsecrated as Santa Maria Antiqua, and entrusted to canons regular. In 1193, however, the Lleida cathedral chapter ordered the construction of a new edifice, following the contemporary Romanesque architectural canons, the first stone was laid in 1203 by King Peter II of Aragon and count Ermengol VII of Urgell. Construction continued throughout the reign of James I of Aragon and it was consecrated to the Virgin Mary on 31 October 1278. The cloisters were not completed until the 14th century, at which work on the belltower was begun. In 1707, the city was conquered by the troops of Philip V, nevertheless, the order was never executed, and the cathedral was converted into barracks. The building was declared a monument in 1918, and restoration works were started in 1950. The cathedral is designed in a style between Romanesque and Gothic. It lacks almost any influence of Islamic architecture, the floor plan is of a basilica in a Latin cross with a nave and two aisles. The tower is octagonal with a space of five apses. The interior was decorated in painted murals and sculpture, much of which is still preserved, the octagonal tower is 12.65 metres in diameter at its base, but 9.62 metres at the top. Its maximum height is 60.00 metres and it contains 238 steps, a bell named Mònica announces the quarter-hours and one Silvestra announces the hours. The bells are of the international Gothic style of the 15th century, the cloister is unusually placed in front of the main entrance of the church, and is notable for both its rare opened gallery with views over the city and for its extraordinary size. In fact, this cloister has been regarded as one of the largest cloisters in Europe and this cloister has 17 ornate Gothic windows, each them different. Among them, one could point out the Muslim window of the palmtrees, consorci Del Turó De La Seu Vella De Lleida - Official website Barral i Altet, Xavier
La Seu Vella
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La Seu Vella.
La Seu Vella
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The cloister.
La Seu Vella
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Star of David, in the cloister of the Old Cathedral of Lleida.
6.
Coat of arms of Lleida
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The Coat of Arms of the city of Lleida has its origins in the 13th century and has the following heraldic description, An escutcheon in lozenge. A charge of an Iris in vert with three stems in vert with a Fleur-de-lis in argent on each, in October 2002, another version was approved as the Province Coat of Arms. It consists in an escutcheon in lozenge, an inescutcheon of vert with an Iris in sable with three stems in sable with a Fleur-de-lis in argent on each. A Bordure of Or charged with four roundels of gules, in crest, the Mural crown for provinces in Or
Coat of arms of Lleida
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Coat of Arms of Lleida.
7.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
8.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
Spain
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Lady of Elche
Spain
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Flag
Spain
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Altamira Cave paintings, in
Cantabria.
Spain
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Celtic castro in
A Guarda,
Galicia.
9.
Autonomous communities of Spain
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Spain is not a federation, but a highly decentralized unitary state. Some scholars have referred to the system as a federal system in all. There are 17 autonomous communities and two cities that are collectively known as autonomies. The two autonomous cities have the right to become autonomous communities, but neither has yet used this right and this unique framework of territorial administration is known as the State of Autonomies. The autonomous communities are governed according to the constitution and their own organic laws known as Statutes of Autonomy, since devolution was intended to be asymmetrical in nature, the scope of competences vary for each community, but all have the same parliamentary structure. Spain is a country made up of different regions with varying economic and social structures, as well as different languages. While the entire Spanish territory was united under one crown by the 16th century, the constituent territories—be it crowns, kingdoms, principalities or dominions—retained much of their former institutional existence, including limited legislative, judicial or fiscal autonomy. These territories also exhibited a variety of customs, laws. From the 18th century onwards, the Bourbon kings and the government tried to establish a more centralized regime, leading figures of the Spanish Enlightenment advocated for the building of a Spanish nation beyond the internal territorial boundaries. This culminated in 1833, when Spain was divided into 49 provinces and these were the Basque Country and Catalonia. This gave rise to peripheral nationalisms along with Spanish nationalism, therefore, economic and social changes that had produced a national cultural unification in France had the opposite effect in Spain. In a response to Catalan demands, limited autonomy was granted to Catalonia in 1913 and it was granted again in 1932 during the Second Spanish Republic, when the Generalitat, Catalonias mediaeval institution of government, was restored. During General Francos dictatorial regime, centralism was most forcefully enforced as a way of preserving the unity of the Spanish nation, peripheral nationalism, along with communism and atheism were regarded by his regime as the main threats. When Franco died in 1975, Spain entered into a phase of transition towards democracy, the then Prime Minister of Spain, Adolfo Suárez, met with Josep Tarradellas, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia in exile. An agreement was made so that the Generalitat would be restored and limited competencies would be transferred while the constitution was still being written. In the end, the constitution, published and ratified in 1979, found a balance in recognizing the existence of nationalities and regions in Spain, within the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation. The starting point in the organization of Spain was the second article of the constitution. In order to exercise this right, the established a open process whereby the nationalities
Autonomous communities of Spain
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A map of
Iberia in 1757
Autonomous communities of Spain
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Galicia
Autonomous communities of Spain
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The Spanish Parliament, Congress of Deputies
Autonomous communities of Spain
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Pro-Catalan independence and pro-Spanish pertenence demonstrations in
Barcelona.
10.
Catalonia
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Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, located on the northeastern extremity of the Iberian Peninsula. It is designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy, Catalonia consists of four provinces, Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. The capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second-most populated municipality in Spain, Catalonia comprises most of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is bordered by France and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, the official languages are Catalan, Spanish, and the Aranese dialect of Occitan. The eastern counties of these marches were united under the rule of the Frankish vassal the Count of Barcelona, in the later Middle Ages Catalan literature flourished. Between 1469 and 1516, the King of Aragon and the Queen of Castile married and ruled their kingdoms together, retaining all their distinct institutions, Courts, and constitutions. During the Franco-Spanish War, Catalonia revolted against a large and burdensome presence of the Royal army in its territory, within a brief period France took full control of Catalonia, at a high economic cost for Catalonia, until it was largely reconquered by the Spanish army. In the nineteenth century, Catalonia was severely affected by the Napoleonic, in the second half of the century Catalonia experienced industrialisation. As wealth from the industrial expansion grew, Catalonia saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism while several workers movements appeared. In 1914, the four Catalan provinces formed a Commonwealth, and with the return of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic, after the Spanish Civil War, the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan institutions and banning the official use of the Catalan language again. Since the Spanish transition to democracy, Catalonia has regained some political and cultural autonomy and is now one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain, the origin of the name Catalunya is subject to diverse interpretations because of a lack of evidence. During the Middle Ages, Byzantine chroniclers claimed that Catalania derives from the medley of Goths with Alans. Other less plausible theories suggest, Catalunya derives from the land of castles, having evolved from the term castlà or castlan. This theory therefore suggests that the names Catalunya and Castile have a common root, the source is of Celtic origin, meaning chiefs of battle. Although the area is not known to have been occupied by Celts, the Lacetani, an Iberian tribe that lived in the area and whose name, due to the Roman influence, could have evolved by metathesis to Katelans and then Catalans. In English, Catalonia is pronounced /kætəˈloʊniə/, the native name, Catalunya, is pronounced in Central Catalan, the most widely spoken variety whose pronunciation is considered standard. The Spanish name is Cataluña, and the Aranese name is Catalonha, the first known human settlements in what is now Catalonia were at the beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic. From the next era, the Epipaleolithic or Mesolithic, important remains survive
Catalonia
–
A
Roman aqueduct in
Tarragona.
Catalonia
–
Flag
Catalonia
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The Medieval church of
Sant Climent in
Taüll, located at the foothills of the
Pyrenees.
Catalonia
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La Seu Vella, Lleida
11.
Provinces of Spain
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Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces. The layout of Spains provinces closely follows the pattern of the division of the country carried out in 1833. The only major change of provincial borders since that time has been the sub-division of the Canary Islands into two rather than one. Historically, the provinces served mainly as transmission belts for policies enacted in Madrid, the importance of the provinces has declined since the adoption of the system of autonomous communities in the period of the Spanish transition to democracy. They nevertheless remain electoral districts for national elections and as references, for instance in postal addresses. A small town would normally be identified as being in, say, Valladolid province rather than the community of Castile. The provinces were the building-blocks from which the communities were created. Consequently, no province is divided more than one of these communities. Only two capitals of autonomous communities—Mérida in Extremadura and Santiago de Compostela in Galicia—are not also the capitals of provinces, seven of the autonomous communities comprise no more than one province each, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, and Navarra. These are sometimes referred to as uniprovincial communities, the table below lists the provinces of Spain. For each, the city is given, together with an indication of the autonomous community to which it belongs. The names of the provinces and their capitals are ordered according to the form in which they appear in the main Wikipedia articles describing them. Unless otherwise indicated, their Spanish-language names are the same, locally valid names in Spains other co-official languages are indicated where they differ
Provinces of Spain
–
Provinces of Spain
12.
Comarques of Catalonia
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This is a list of the 42 comarques into which Catalonia is divided. A comarca is a group of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a US county or a UK district. However, in the context of Catalonia, the county can be a bit misleading, because in medieval Catalonia. Comarques have no relation to the counties that were ruled by counts. In some cases, comarques consist of areas and many small villages centering on an important town. This is the case of such as the Pla dEstany, centered on the town of Banyoles, or the Ripollès. In other cases, comarques are larger areas with many important population centers that have traditionally considered part of the same region. The current official division of Catalonia into comarques originates in an order of the semi-autonomous Catalan government under the Spanish Republic in 1936 and it was superseded after the 1939 victory of Francisco Francos forces in the Spanish Civil War, but restored in 1987 by the re-established Generalitat of Catalonia. As a result, some revisions to the division have been made periodically. The comarca exists as a local government area, and has a representative comarcal council, aran, which is included here, is officially not a comarca but a unique territorial entity with additional powers, but unofficially it is generally referred to as a comarca. Its current status was formalised in February 2015, comarcal revisions have taken place in 1988,1990, and May 2015. The other proposed new comarcas are, Vall de Camprodon, Selva Marítima, Alta Segarra, Segre Mitjà, in a non-binding referendum in July 2015, a majority of municipalities of the Lluçanès region of Osona voted to join a proposed new comarca of that name. The partial approval was seen as insufficient and the plan had not been put to parliament by the end of 2015 and it is also our source for which municipalities are in which comarca. Parts of the site are in English and Spanish, although most of it is in Catalan, Catalonia, La Franja and Northern Catalonia
Comarques of Catalonia
–
Present-day division of Catalonia in comarques
13.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
Daylight saving time
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Ancient
water clock that lets hour lengths vary with season.
Daylight saving time
–
G. V. Hudson invented modern DST, proposing it first in 1895.
Daylight saving time
–
Retailers generally favor DST.
United Cigar Stores hailed a 1918 DST bill.
Daylight saving time
–
William Willett independently proposed DST in 1907 and advocated it tirelessly.
14.
Central European Summer Time
–
It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
Central European Summer Time
–
light blue
15.
List of postal codes in Spain
–
Postal codes were introduced and standardized in Spain in 1985, when Correos introduced automated mail sorting. The first two digits of the postal code correspond to one of the fifty provinces of Spain, plus the two cities on the African coast. Some codes are reserved for use at the province capital,070 for official use by Correos. 071 to address state agencies at the given province,080 for P. O. boxes and mail lists. Large cities such as Madrid and Barcelona, were divided into postal districts similar to the arrondissement system in Paris, Plaza de España,18 Madrid 8 Travessera de Gràcia,56, 4rt 1a. Barcelona 6 These former postal districts were incorporated into the postal codes, Plaza de España,1828008 Madrid Travessera de Gràcia,56
List of postal codes in Spain
–
2-digit postcode areas Spain(defined through the first two postcode digits)
16.
Telephone numbers in Spain
–
The Spanish telephone numbering plan is the allocation of telephone numbers in Spain. It is regulated by Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones, Spain changed to a closed telephone numbering plan in 1998. Previously, the prefix was 9x, but this was incorporated into the subscribers number, so that a nine-digit number was used for all calls. Mobile phone numbers begin with 6 or 7, followed by 8 digits, note, numbers starting with 70 are personal numbers which can be re-directed to any other number by the personal owner. Since the blocks of mobile phone numbers are allocated according to demand from the service providers, personal numbers are used as redirection IDs. The owner of a number may request, for example. Personal numbers begin with 5, followed by 8 digits, Numbers starting with 2,3,4,5, and 99 are reserved. Numbers starting with 0 and 1 are used to compose short numbers or for prefixes, Numbers starting with 80 and 90 are used for premium rates, toll free, and internet access numbers. 803,806, and 807 prefixes are used for premium rate calls,905 numbers are supposed to be used for voting systems. Calls have a duration, and are charged a fixed rate per call. They are usually available from landlines but not from mobiles,901 and 902 numbers are Non Geographic Numbers. These have been introduced by the call centres of large multinational European businesses. Unlike other normal Spanish phone numbers beginning 910 onwards,901 and 902 numbers are always excluded from inclusive call bundles on Spanish landlines and mobiles,902 numbers are also extremely expensive to call from Spanish mobiles. 901 and 902 numbers are also premium rated if calling Spain from overseas and low cost international call carriers to Spain normally refuse to connect calls to 901 and 902 numbers
Telephone numbers in Spain
–
Spain telephone numbers
17.
Languages of Spain
–
The languages of Spain, or Spanish languages, are the languages spoken or once spoken in Spain. Romance languages are the most widely spoken in Spain, of which Spanish, various other languages have co-official or recognised status in specific territories, and a number of unofficial languages and dialects are spoken in certain localities. In terms of the number of speakers and dominance, the most prominent of the languages of Spain is Spanish, Catalan is spoken by 17%, Galician by 7%, and Basque by 2% of the population. Distribution of the regional languages in Spain, Aranese, co-official in Catalonia. It is spoken mainly in the Pyrenean comarca of the Aran Valley and it is a variety of Gascon, which in turn is a variety of the Occitan language. Basque, co-official in the Basque Country and northern Navarre, Basque is the only non-Romance language with an official status in mainland Spain. Catalan, co-official in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and, as a distinct variant Valencian and it is recognised—but not official—in Aragon. Furthermore, it is spoken without official recognition in the municipality of Carche. It is also spoken without official recognition in the adjacent western parts of the Principality of Asturias and Castile, in the cases of Catalan and Galician, they are the main languages used by the Catalan and Galician regional governments and local administrations. A number of citizens in these areas consider their language as their primary language. In addition to these, there are a number of endangered and recognised minority languages, Aragonese. Leonese, recognised—but not official—in Castile and León, spoken in the provinces of León and Zamora. Asturian and Leonese are closely related to the local Mirandese which is spoken on an adjacent territory, Mirandese is recognised and has some local official status. With the exception of Basque, which appears to be an isolate, all of the languages present in mainland Spain are Indo-European languages. Afro-Asiatic languages, such as Arabic or Berber, are spoken by the Muslim population of Ceuta and Melilla and by recent immigrants elsewhere. Others, such as Pilar Vázquez Cuesta, argue that they have become separate languages due to differences in phonetics and vocabulary usage. The official and widespread position is that Galician and Portuguese should be considered independent languages, Portuguese proper is still spoken by local people in three border areas, The town of La Alamedilla, in Salamanca province. The so-called Cedillo-horn, including Cedillo and Herrera de Alcántara, the town of Olivenza, in Badajoz province, and its surrounding territory, which used to be Portuguese until the 19th century and is still claimed by Portugal
Languages of Spain
–
Spanish official; spoken all over the country
18.
Lleida (province)
–
The Province of Lleida is one of the four provinces of Catalonia. It is often referred to as Ponent. It is the province within Catalonia that is landlocked. Of the population of 414,015, about 30% live in the capital, some other towns in Lleida province are La Seu dUrgell, Mollerussa, Cervera, Tàrrega, Balaguer. There are 231 municipalities in Lleida, located in the Pyrenees, the Aran Valley is a special comarca with greater autonomy and with Aranese, a variety of Occitan, as its official language. The Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park is located in this province, the province enjoys a thriving fruit-growing industry, including pears and peaches. The plan is on hold for the time being, one example of the pronunciation is the a at the end of the word that is pronounced like an e. The local dialect, properly known as North-Western Catalan is part of the Western Catalan block, the Province of Lleida is the only one in Catalonia where a language other than Catalan is native, Occitan, in the Aran Valley. In terms of its environment, Lleida offers a wide variety of landscapes. In the high area of the Pyrenees, visitors will find nature in its purest form. Special mention should be made of, the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, which is the only National Park in Catalonia, and the Alt Pirineu and Cadí-Moixeró natural parks. In the Pre-Pyrenees, amongst other places of interest, visitors find the Collegats-Terradets Territorial Park, the Boumort Natural Hunting Reserve. In contrast, the Lleida Plain offers more peaceful landscapes, in some cases, these are rather sober, while in others, visitors will find fertile land with century-old olive trees, fruit trees, meadows and crop fields. In this area, it is relevant to highlight such spectacular settings as the Estany dIvars i Vila-sana pool. This area is also Spains leading ski destination, Lleida has 11 different ski resorts which are marketed under the brand Neu de Lleida and offer over 450 km of ski slopes. Their 81 ski lifts have the capacity to carry 115,000 skiers per hour and it is also important to pick out some of the many new initiatives that have helped to extend the seasonal offer of Lleidas tourism sector. These buildings coexist with equally interesting modern constructions such as La Llotja, in recent years, improved communications have also helped to strengthen Lleidas position as one of the Spains leading tourist destinations. The Patronat de Turisme of the Diputació de Lleida created the Ara Lleida tourism brand back in 1990 with the aim of promoting the whole of this territory, llista de monuments de Lleida Patronat de Turisme Diputació de Lleida Xanascat the National Network of Youth Hostels of Catalonia
Lleida (province)
–
Seu Vella in
Lleida.
Lleida (province)
–
Flag
Lleida (province)
–
Monastery of Santa Maria de Bellpuig de les Avellanes.
19.
Catalan Central Depression
–
The Catalan Central Depression is a natural depression between the Pre-Pyrenees and the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range in Spain. It widens towards the west, linking with the Ebro Depression, Catalan, Depressió de lEbre, the Catalan Central Depression is about 180 km long with an average width of 50 km. The Catalan Central Depression consists of a succession of high plateaus between 800 and 1,000 metres in altitude that gradually lose height westwards until the Ebro Depression, there are eroded river basins limiting these heights wherever the ground is made up of clay or marlstone. The Pla de Bages and the Conca de Barberà are examples of these higher regions, the limits of the Central Depression are different whether considered from the point of view of their origin or their actual relief. These materials were piled up over the ancient rocks of the Catalan Mediterranean System. The Central Depression formed in the Tertiary, when a great gulf, that became a sea, had its boundaries in the Pyrenees. Evaporation produced sodium and potassium salts, as well as gypsum in certain areas, some minor mountain ranges are scattered within the Central Depression without a regular pattern
Catalan Central Depression
–
The
Pla de Bages, in the midst of the Central Depression, with
Montserrat in the background.
Catalan Central Depression
–
Pyrenees
Catalan Central Depression
–
The
Montmeneu, an isolated hill in the western area of the Central Depression.
20.
Sucs
–
Sucs is a locality in the municipality of Lleida. In the 2008 census Sucs had 578 inhabitants and its name comes from Arabic, and is a reference to the local fair. Its mentioned in 1188, in the Ordinato Ecclesia Ilerdensis, as part of the bishopric of Lleida, the ruins of Sucs castle and a Romanesque church dating back from the 12th century are located on top of a hill known as Lo Vilot
Sucs
–
Church at Sucs.
21.
Bronze Age
–
The Bronze Age is a historical period characterized by the use of bronze, proto-writing, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the principal period of the three-age Stone-Bronze-Iron system, as proposed in modern times by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen. An ancient civilization is defined to be in the Bronze Age either by smelting its own copper and alloying with tin, arsenic, or other metals, or by trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere. Copper-tin ores are rare, as reflected in the fact there were no tin bronzes in Western Asia before trading in bronze began in the third millennium BC. Worldwide, the Bronze Age generally followed the Neolithic period, with the Chalcolithic serving as a transition, although the Iron Age generally followed the Bronze Age, in some areas, the Iron Age intruded directly on the Neolithic. Bronze Age cultures differed in their development of the first writing, according to archaeological evidence, cultures in Mesopotamia and Egypt developed the earliest viable writing systems. The overall period is characterized by use of bronze, though the place and time of the introduction. Human-made tin bronze technology requires set production techniques, tin must be mined and smelted separately, then added to molten copper to make bronze alloy. The Bronze Age was a time of use of metals. The dating of the foil has been disputed, the Bronze Age in the ancient Near East began with the rise of Sumer in the 4th millennium BC. Societies in the region laid the foundations for astronomy and mathematics, the usual tripartite division into an Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age is not used. Instead, a division based on art-historical and historical characteristics is more common. The cities of the Ancient Near East housed several tens of thousands of people, ur in the Middle Bronze Age and Babylon in the Late Bronze Age similarly had large populations. The earliest mention of Babylonia appears on a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 23rd century BC, the Amorite dynasty established the city-state of Babylon in the 19th century BC. Over 100 years later, it took over the other city-states. Babylonia adopted the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use, by that time, the Sumerian language was no longer spoken, but was still in religious use. Elam was an ancient civilization located to the east of Mesopotamia, in the Old Elamite period, Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a role in the Gutian Empire and especially during the Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded it
Bronze Age
–
Chalcolithic copper mine in
Timna Valley,
Negev Desert,
Israel.
Bronze Age
–
Diffusion of metallurgy in
Europe and
Asia Minor. The darkest areas are the oldest.
Bronze Age
–
A
Shang Dynasty two-handled bronze gefuding gui (1600–1046 BC).
Bronze Age
–
Spring and Autumn Period pu bronze vessel with interlaced
dragon design (722–481 BC)
22.
Hispania
–
Hispania was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces, Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior, during the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divided into two new provinces, Baetica and Lusitania, while Hispania Citerior was renamed Tarraconensis. Subsequently, the part of Tarraconensis was split off, first as Hispania Nova. The name, Hispania, was used in the period of Visigothic rule. The modern placenames Spain and Hispaniola are both derived from Hispania, one theory holds it to be of Punic derivation, from the Phoenician language of colonizing Carthage. Specifically, it may derive from a Punic cognate of Hebrew אי-שפניא meaning Island of the Hyrax or island of the hare or island of the rabbit. Others derive the word from Phoenician span, in the sense of hidden, and make it indicate a hidden, that is, Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis. Occasionally Hispania was called Hesperia Ultima, the last western land in Greek, by Roman writers, another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for border or edge, thus meaning the farthest area or place. The use of Latin Hispania, Castilian España, Catalan Espanya and French Espaigne, a document dated 1292 mentions the names of foreigners from Medieval Spain as Gracien dEspaigne. You are, Oh Spain, holy and always happy mother of princes and peoples and you, by right, are now the queen of all provinces, from whom the lights are given not only the sunset, but also the East. Navarre followed soon after in 1512, and Portugal in 1580, during this time, the concept of Spain was still unchanged. The King of Portugal would protest energetically when during a public act King Fernando talked about the Crown of Spain and it was after the independence of Portugal in 1640 when the concept of Spain started to shift and be applied to all the Peninsula except Portugal. Even so, Portugal would still complain when the terms Crown of Spain or Monarchy of Spain were still used in the 18th century with the Treaty of Utrecht. The Iberian peninsula has long inhabited, first by early hominids such as Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis. In the Paleolithic period, the Neanderthals entered Iberia and eventually took refuge from the migrations of modern humans. In the 40th millennium BC, during the Upper Paleolithic and the last ice age and these were nomadic hunter-gatherers originating on the steppes of Central Asia. When the last Ice Age reached its maximum extent, during the 30th millennium BC, in the millennia that followed, the Neanderthals became extinct and local modern human cultures thrived, producing pre-historic art such as that found in LArbreda Cave and in the Côa Valley. In the Mesolithic period, beginning in the 10th millennium BC and this was an interstadial deglaciation that lessened the harsh conditions of the Ice Age
Hispania
–
Archaeological Roman Ensemble of Mérida (Emerita Augusta), Extremadura, Spain.
Hispania
–
Roman provinces of Hispania
Hispania
–
The
Tower of Hercules in La Coruña, Galicia, Spain, is the world's oldest Roman lighthouse still in use.
Hispania
–
The Roman
Aqueduct of Segovia, Castile, Spain.
23.
Iberian people
–
The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC. The Roman sources also use the term Hispani to refer to the Iberians, the term Iberian, as used by the ancient authors, had two distinct meanings. One, more general, referred to all the populations of the Iberian peninsula without regard to ethnic differences and this non-Indo-European cultural group spoke the Iberian language from the 7th to the 1st century BC. Other peoples possibly related to the Iberians are the Vascones, though related to the Aquitani than to the Iberians. The Iberian culture developed from the 6th century BC, and perhaps as early as the fifth to the third millennium BC in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula, the Iberians lived in villages and oppida and their communities were based on a tribal organization. The Iberians in the Spanish Levant, were more urbanized than their neighbors in the central, the peoples in the central and northwest regions were mostly Celtic, semi-pastoral and lived in scattered villages, though they also had a few fortified towns like Numantia. They had a knowledge of writing, metalworking, including bronze, in the centuries preceding Carthaginian and Roman conquest, Iberian settlements grew in social complexity, exhibiting evidence of social stratification and urbanization. This process was aided by trading contacts with the Phoenicians, Greeks. The settlement of Castellet de Banyoles in Tivissa was one of the most important ancient Iberian settlements in Catalonia that was discovered in 1912, also, the Treasure of Tivissa, a unique collection of silver Iberian votive offerings was found here in 1927. Lucentum was another ancient Iberian settlement, as well as Castelldefels Castle, mausoleum of Pozo Moro near the town of Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón in Castile-La Mancha seems to mark the location of another big settlement. Sagunto is the location of an ancient Iberian and later Roman city of Saguntum, Greek colonists made the first historical reference to the Iberians in the 6th century BC. They defined Iberians as non-Celtic peoples south of the Ebro river, the Greeks also dubbed as Iberians another people in the Caucasus region, currently known as Caucasian Iberians. It is not known if there had any type of connection between the two peoples. The Iberians traded extensively with other Mediterranean cultures, Iberian pottery and metalwork has been found in France, Italy, and North Africa. The Iberians had extensive contact with Greek colonists in the Spanish colonies of Emporion, Rhode, Zakynthos, the Iberians may have adopted some of the Greeks artistic techniques. Statues such as the Lady of Baza and the Lady of Elx are thought to have made by Iberians relatively well acquainted with Greek art. Thucydides stated that one of the three tribes of Sicily, the Sicani, were of Iberian origin, though Iberian at the time could have included what we think of as Gaul. The Iberians also had contacts with the Phoenicians, who had established colonies in southern Andalucia
Iberian people
–
The
Lady of Elx, 4th century BC, polychrome stone bust from L'Alcúdia,
Alicante, Spain.
Iberian people
–
Ethnology of the Iberian Peninsula c. 200 BC, based on the map by Portuguese archeologist Luís Fraga
Iberian people
–
Horseman from Iberian pottery,
Alicante.
Iberian people
–
Lord of the Horses, Villaricos (Almeria), Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya,
Barcelona.
24.
Augustus
–
Augustus was the founder of the Roman Principate and considered the first Roman emperor, controlling the Roman Empire from 27 BC until his death in AD14. He was born Gaius Octavius into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia and his maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, and Octavius was named in Caesars will as his adopted son and heir, then known as Octavianus. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat the assassins of Caesar, following their victory at the Battle of Philippi, the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military dictators. The Triumvate was eventually torn apart by the ambitions of its members. Lepidus was driven into exile and stripped of his position, in reality, however, he retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator. By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme military command, and it took several years for Augustus to develop the framework within which a formally republican state could be led under his sole rule. He rejected monarchical titles, and instead called himself Princeps Civitatis, the resulting constitutional framework became known as the Principate, the first phase of the Roman Empire. The reign of Augustus initiated an era of peace known as the Pax Romana. Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanding possessions in Africa, expanding into Germania, beyond the frontiers, he secured the Empire with a buffer region of client states and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy. Augustus died in AD14 at the age of 75 and he probably died from natural causes, although there were unconfirmed rumors that his wife Livia poisoned him. He was succeeded as Emperor by his adopted son Tiberius, Augustus was known by many names throughout his life, At birth, he was named Gaius Octavius after his biological father. Historians typically refer to him simply as Octavius between his birth in 63 until his adoption by Julius Caesar in 44 BC, upon his adoption, he took Caesars name and became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus in accordance with Roman adoption naming standards. He quickly dropped Octavianus from his name, and his contemporaries referred to him as Caesar during this period, historians. In 27 BC, following his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra and it is the events of 27 BC from which he obtained his traditional name of Augustus, which historians use in reference to him from 27 BC until his death in AD14. While his paternal family was from the town of Velletri, approximately 40 kilometres from Rome and he was born at Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill, very close to the Roman Forum. He was given the name Gaius Octavius Thurinus, his cognomen possibly commemorating his fathers victory at Thurii over a band of slaves. Due to the nature of Rome at the time, Octavius was taken to his fathers home village at Velletri to be raised. Octavius only mentions his fathers equestrian family briefly in his memoirs and his paternal great-grandfather Gaius Octavius was a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War
Augustus
–
The statue known as the
Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st century
Augustus
–
The Death of Caesar, by
Jean-Léon Gérôme (1867). On 15 March 44 BC, Octavius's adoptive father Julius Caesar was assassinated by a conspiracy led by
Marcus Junius Brutus and
Gaius Cassius Longinus.
Walters Art Museum,
Baltimore.
Augustus
–
A statue of Augustus as a younger Octavian, dated ca. 30 BC
Augustus
–
Bust of Augustus in
Musei Capitolini, Rome
25.
Reconquista
–
The Reconquista ended just before the European discovery of the Americas—the New World—which ushered in the era of the Portuguese and Spanish colonial empires. The concept of a Christian reconquest of the peninsula first emerged, in tenuous form, a landmark was set by the Christian Chronica Prophetica, a document stressing the Christian and Muslim cultural and religious divide in Iberia and the necessity to drive the Muslims out. Nevertheless, the difference between Christian and Muslim kingdoms in early medieval Spain was not seen at the time as anything like the clear-cut opposition that later emerged, both Christian and Muslim rulers fought amongst themselves. Alliances between Muslims and Christians were not uncommon, blurring distinctions even further were the mercenaries from both sides who simply fought for whoever paid the most. The period is looked back upon today as one of religious tolerance. In fact previous documents from the 10th and 11th centuries are mute on any idea of reconquest and their rebellious pursuit was thus a Crusade for the restoration of Churchs unity, where Franco stood for both Pelagius of Asturias and El Cid. Many recent historians dispute the concept of Reconquista as a concept created a posteriori in the service of later political goals. A number of historians have called it a myth, One of the first Spanish intellectuals to question the idea of a reconquest that lasted for eight centuries was José Ortega y Gasset, writing in the first half of the 20th century. However, the term is widely in use. In 711, Muslim Moors, mainly North African Berber soldiers with some Arabs, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, from their stronghold of Narbonne, they launched raids into the Duchy of Aquitaine. At no point did the invading Islamic armies exceed 60,000 men and these armies established an Islamic rule that would last 300 years in much of the Iberian Peninsula and 770 years in Granada. After the establishment of a local Emirate, Caliph Al-Walid I, ruler of the Umayyad caliphate, tariq ibn Ziyad, the first governor of the newly conquered province of Al-Andalus, was recalled to Damascus and replaced with Musa bin Nusair, who had been his former superior. Musas son, Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, apparently married Egilona, Roderics widow and he was suspected of being under the influence of his wife, accused of wanting to convert to Christianity, and of planning a secessionist rebellion. Apparently a concerned Al-Walid I ordered Abd al-Azizs assassination, Caliph Al-Walid I died in 715 and was succeeded by his brother Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik. Sulayman seems to have punished the surviving Musa bin Nusair, who soon died during a pilgrimage in 716. In the end Abd al-Aziz ibn Musas cousin, Ayyub ibn Habib al-Lakhmi became the emir of Al-Andalus, the conquering generals were necessarily acting very independently, due to the methods of communication available. Old rivalries and perhaps even full-fledged conspiracies between rival generals may have had influence over this development, in the end, the old successful generals were replaced by a younger generation considered more loyal by the government in Damascus. A serious weakness amongst the Muslim conquerors was the tension between Berbers and Arabs
Reconquista
–
A battle of the Reconquista from the
Cantigas de Santa Maria
Reconquista
–
Northeastern al-Andalus, the Pyrenees and southern Gaul at the time of the Berber rebellion (739-742).
Reconquista
–
Forces of
Muhammed IX,
Nasrid Sultan of
Granada, at the
Battle of La Higueruela, 1431
Reconquista
–
Santiago the Moor-slayer
26.
Moors
–
Moors are not a distinct or self-defined people, and mainstream scholars observed in 1911 that The term Moors has no real ethnological value. Medieval and early modern Europeans variously applied the name to Arabs, Berber North Africans and Muslim Europeans. The term has also used in Europe in a broader, somewhat derogatory sense to refer to Muslims in general, especially those of Arab or Berber descent. During the colonial era, the Portuguese introduced the names Ceylon Moors and Indian Moors in Sri Lanka, in 711, troops mostly formed by Moors from North Africa led the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. The Iberian peninsula then came to be known in classical Arabic as Al-Andalus, in 827, the Moors occupied Mazara on Sicily, developing it as a port. They eventually consolidated the rest of the island and some of southern Italy, in 1224 the Muslims were expelled from Sicily to the settlement of Lucera, which was destroyed by European Christians in 1300. The fall of Granada in 1492 marked the end of Muslim rule in Iberia, the Berber tribes of the region were noted in Classical literature as Mauri, which was subsequently rendered as Moors in English and in related variations in other European languages. Mauri is recorded as the name by Strabo in the early 1st century. This appellation was also adopted into Latin, whereas the Greek name for the tribe was Maurusii, in medieval Romance languages, variations of the Latin word for the Moors developed different applications and connotations. During the context of the Crusades and the Reconquista, the term Moors included the suggestion of infidels. Apart from these associations and context, Moor and Moorish designate a specific ethnic group speaking Hassaniya Arabic. They inhabit Mauritania and parts of Algeria, Western Sahara, Tunisia, Morocco, Niger, in Niger and Mali, these peoples are also known as the Azawagh Arabs, after the Azawagh region of the Sahara. Some authors have pointed out that in modern colloquial Spanish use of the term moro is derogatory for Moroccans in particular, however, this designation has gained more acceptance in the south. In the Philippines, a former Spanish colony, many modern Filipinos call the large, local Muslim minority concentrated in Mindanao, the word is a catch-all term, as Moro may come from several distinct ethno-linguistic groups such as the Maranao people. The term was introduced by Spanish colonisers, and has since been appropriated by Filipino Muslims as an endonym, moreno can mean dark-skinned in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, and the Philippines. Also in Spanish, morapio is a name for wine, especially that which has not been baptized or mixed with water. Among Spanish speakers, moro came to have a broader meaning, Moro refers to all things dark, as in Moor, moreno, etc. It was also used as a nickname, for instance, the Milanese Duke Ludovico Sforza was called Il Moro because of his dark complexion, in Portugal, mouro may refer to supernatural beings known as enchanted moura, where moor implies alien and non-Christian
Moors
–
Depiction of Moors in
Iberia. Taken from the
Tale of Bayad and Riyad
Moors
–
Depiction of three Moorish knights found on
Alhambra 's Ladies Tower
Moors
–
Castillian ambassadors attempting to convince Moorish Almohad king
Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada to join their alliance (contemporary depiction from The Cantigas de Santa María)
Moors
–
Reconstruction of costumes of Moorish
nobility from a German book published in 1880
27.
University of Lleida
–
The University of Lleida is a university based in Lleida, Spain. It was the first university in Catalonia and the whole Crown of Aragon and it was founded in 1300, using the name of Estudi General de Lleida in the style of other Universities founded at that time. And closed down through a law or Real Cédula in 1717 along with the banning of the rest of Catalan Universities. Felipe V founded a university in Cervera, a town 70 km. east of Lleida whose authorities had supported his side in the Spanish War of Succession in 1713, which replaced all Catalan universities. The University of Lleida originates from the Estudi General de Lleida, being the only university in the Crown of Aragon, the city of Lleida began to grow, as citizens from all across the kingdom came to the Estudi General de Lleida to receive a higher education. The Estudi General de Lleida was funded by both the city of Lleida and the local Cathedral chapter, while still a prominent university, it suffered a long period of decline all the way through the 17th century. Cervera, a town east of Lleida, was chosen to be the location of the first of a new type of university, on the 9th of October,1717, a Royal decree from Philip V ordered the closure of Estudi General of Lleida along with other Catalan universities. In 1841, the foundation of a training school marked the first step towards the foundation of the University of Lleida. However, it would be another 125 years before more progress was made, finally, on 12 December 1991, the Catalan Parliament passed an act which brought the various studies together, and founded the University of Lleida with Víctor Siurana i Zaragoza as its director. The foundation of the University of Lleida was formalized after the creation of the Statutes of the University of Lleida on the 27th of October,1994, the University of Lleida offers 38 different bachelors degrees across 14 fields, ranging from Agriculture & Forestry to Natural Sciences & Mathematics. The field that offers the largest selection of programs is the Engineering & Technology programs. The University of Lleida is an institution in Spain for research and education in the fields of Agronomy, Food Technology. It is the university in Catalonia to offer Forestry Services. The university also offers a total of 29 masters programs in 12 fields, with seven degrees in their Education& Training program. The University of Lleida is divided into 4 campuses, each of which is divided into schools. The university of Lleida has a total of 26 departments of education, the university has affiliated programs at the Escola Universitària de Relacions Laborals, The Ostelea School of Tourism and Hospitality, and the Institut Nacional dEducació Física de Catalunya
University of Lleida
–
Rambla d'Aragó campus.
University of Lleida
–
Cappont campus.
28.
Catalan Revolt
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The Catalan revolt affected a large part of the Principality of Catalonia between the years of 1640 and 1659. But his Union of Arms policy raised hostilities and protests all across the countries of Spain. Catalan peasants, who were forced to quarter Castilian troops, responded on Corpus Christi day, May 1640, with a known as Bloody Corpus. Long live the land, death to bad government, the irregular militia involved were known as Miquelets. The situation took Olivares by surprise, with most of the Spanish army fighting on other fronts far from Catalonia. Pau Claris, head of the Generalitat of Catalonia, called the members of the all Principality in order to form a Junta de Braços or Braços Generals. The calling was a success, and the presence of royal cities, at the same time, the Generalitat maintained contacts with France, in order to establish an alliance between the Principality of Catalonia and this country. In this way, the General Estates presided by Pau Claris proclaimed the Catalan Republic under the protection of the French monarchy, in a first reaction, Spain sent a large army of 26,000 men under Pedro Fajardo to crush the Catalan Revolt. On its way to Barcelona, the Spanish army retook several cities, the army of the Catalan Republic was defeated in Martorell, near Barcelona, on January,23. These measures only reinforced the determination of the defenders of Barcelona, despite this success, the peasants uprising was becoming uncontrollable, progressively focusing on its own nobility, and the Generalitats government itself. For the next decade the Catalans fought under French vassalage, taking the initiative after Montjuïc, a French-Catalan army under Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt moved south and gained several victories. But the sieges of Tarragona, Lleida and Tortosa finally failed, in the north, they were more successful. Perpignan was taken after a siege of 10 months, and the whole of Roussillon was under French control, shortly after, Spanish relief armies were defeated at the Battle of Montmeló and Battle of Barcelona. In 1652 a Spanish offensive captured Barcelona bringing the Catalan capital under Spanish control again, in 1652 the French authorities renounced Catalonia, but held control of Roussillon, thereby leading to the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. Els Segadors, the current national anthem of Catalonia, the current lyrics are from 1899, originally based in this revolt. Revolt of the Barretines, another Catalan revolt from 1687–1689, the Revolt of the Catalans, a Study in the Decline of Spain. La acción de Francia en Cataluña en la pugna por la hegemonía de Europa, still indispensable for its detailed coverage of the events from 1640/41 and later
Catalan Revolt
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Battle of Montjuïc (1641)
29.
Spanish Civil War
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Ultimately, the Nationalists won, and Franco then ruled Spain for the next 36 years, from April 1939 until his death in November 1975. Sanjurjo was killed in an accident while attempting to return from exile in Portugal. The coup was supported by units in the Spanish protectorate in Morocco, Pamplona, Burgos, Zaragoza, Valladolid, Cádiz, Córdoba. However, rebelling units in some important cities—such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, and Málaga—did not gain control, Spain was thus left militarily and politically divided. The Nationalists and the Republican government fought for control of the country, the Nationalist forces received munitions and soldiers from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, while the Republican side received support from the Communist Soviet Union and leftist populist Mexico. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, operated a policy of non-intervention. The Nationalists advanced from their strongholds in the south and west and they also besieged Madrid and the area to its south and west for much of the war. Those associated with the losing Republicans were persecuted by the victorious Nationalists, with the establishment of a dictatorship led by General Franco in the aftermath of the war, all right-wing parties were fused into the structure of the Franco regime. The war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired, organized purges occurred in territory captured by Francos forces to consolidate the future regime. A significant number of killings took place in areas controlled by the Republicans, the extent to which Republican authorities took part in killings in Republican territory varied. The 19th century was a turbulent time for Spain and those in favour of reforming Spains government vied for political power with conservatives, who tried to prevent reforms from taking place. Some liberals, in a tradition that had started with the Spanish Constitution of 1812, sought to limit the power of the monarchy of Spain, the reforms of 1812 did not last after King Ferdinand VII dissolved the Constitution and ended the Trienio Liberal government. Twelve successful coups were carried out between 1814 and 1874, until the 1850s, the economy of Spain was primarily based on agriculture. There was little development of an industrial or commercial class. The land-based oligarchy remained powerful, a number of people held large estates called latifundia as well as all the important government positions. In 1868 popular uprisings led to the overthrow of Queen Isabella II of the House of Bourbon, two distinct factors led to the uprisings, a series of urban riots and a liberal movement within the middle classes and the military concerned with the ultra-conservatism of the monarchy. In 1873 Isabellas replacement, King Amadeo I of the House of Savoy, abdicated owing to increasing pressure. After the restoration of the Bourbons in December 1874, Carlists and Anarchists emerged in opposition to the monarchy, alejandro Lerroux, Spanish politician and leader of the Radical Republican Party, helped bring republicanism to the fore in Catalonia, where poverty was particularly acute
Spanish Civil War
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Republican International Brigadiers at the
Battle of Belchite ride on a
T-26 tank
Spanish Civil War
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King
Amadeo I of Spain
Spanish Civil War
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Republican volunteers at
Teruel, 1936.
Spanish Civil War
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Republican troops at
Guadalajara, 1937
30.
Indibilis and Mandonius
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Indibilis and Mandonius were chieftains of the Ilergetes, an ancient Iberian people of the Iberian Peninsula. Polybius speaks of the brothers as the most influential and powerful of the Spanish chieftains in that time period, livy calls one of the chieftains of the Ilergetes Indibilis, while Polybius gives Andobales for the same person. They agree that his brother chieftain was Mandonius, Indibilis fought against the Romans and sided with the Carthaginians at the Battle of Cissa in 218 BC, when Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus fought them. Indibilis was defeated at this battle and became a prisoner, along with the Carthaginian general Hanno. In 217 BC, Indibilis had regained his freedom and, with his younger brother Mandonius, decided to harass neighboring Spanish tribes that were friendly to, and in alliance with, Rome. This harassment was fended off by Calvus by counter measures that involved killing off some of Indibiliss tribesmen, taking some prisoners, when Hasdrubal Barca, who was in northwestern Spain, heard of this, he came back to help out his Spanish allies south of the Ebro River. At this time, the tide of war took a turn because of unexpected intelligence received by Calvus from the Celtiberians, the Celtiberi were induced to collaborate with Calvus and invade New Carthage. On the way there, the armies took three fortified towns and fought two successful battles with Hasdrubal and Indibilis with Mandonius. Calvus with the combined armies killed 15,000 of the enemy and this pretty well kept Indibilis and Mandonius and their remaining tribesmen out of the picture until 211 BC. At that time, they gathered 7,500 Suessetani and joined forces with Hasdrubal, publius Cornelius Scipio, father to Scipio Africanus and younger brother of Calvus, decided to attack the Iberian chieftain brothers as they were moving across his line of retreat from his camp. Scipio didnt want to be trapped and surrounded by Carthaginians and he marched at midnight to meet them and skirmished with them about daybreak. Scipio was speared with a lance and killed here at the Battle of Castulo, Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, Scipio’s older brother, was killed at the Battle of Ilorca, the other part of the battle of the Upper Baetis, a few days later. He demanded much money from them on his own whim and for his own benefit and he also required that the wife of Mandonius and the daughters of Indibilis be held at New Carthage in pledge for their fathers fidelity. The hostages were part of the booty when Scipio Africanus captured New Carthage in 209 BC, Africanus treated them with much dignity and returned them to their rightful places, which impressed the Spaniards. This added to Africanuss already excellent reputation of his personal character, the two brothers soon abandoned the Carthaginians and sided with the Romans. In 209 BC, they concluded a treaty of alliance with the Romans with most of the territories of Spain. They then collaborated in a campaign against Hasdrubal Gisco which ended in a victory at the Battle of Baecula in 208 BC. Because of the presence of the reputable Roman general Africanus, Indibilis, however, on the rumor of the serious illness of Africanus and his possible death in 206 BC, they started a rebellion for the Romans to leave Spain
Indibilis and Mandonius
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Indibilis (left) + Mandonius (right)
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Lleida
