Cuenca (España)

( Cuenca, Spain )

Cuenca (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkweŋka]) is a city and municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. It is the capital of the province of Cuenca.

When the Iberian peninsula was part of the Roman Empire, there were several important settlements in the province, such as Segobriga, Ercavica and Gran Valeria. However, the place where Cuenca is located today was uninhabited at that time.

When the Muslims captured the area in 714, they soon realized the value of this strategic location and they built a fortress (called Kunka) between two gorges dug between the Júcar and Huécar rivers, surrounded by a 1 km-long wall. Cuenca's economy soon became dominated by agriculture and textile manufacturing, enjoying growing prosperity.

In the early 11th century, the Caliphate of Córdoba broke into several rump states (taifas).[1] Cuenca was ruled by the taifa of Toledo—possibly the largest one—whose jurisdiction roughly spanned across the bulk of the Middle March of Al-Andalus.[2] In 1076, Cuenca was besieged by Sancho Ramírez of Aragon, who failed to conquer the place. In 1080 King Yahya al-Qadir of Toledo lost his taifa, and his vizier signed in Cuenca a treaty with Alfonso VI of León and Castile by which he ceded him some fortresses in exchange for military help.

Following the Christian defeat at the battle of Sagrajas (1086), Cuenca was captured by the taifa king of Seville, Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad. However, when his lands were attacked by the Almoravids, he sent his daughter-in-law Zaida to Alfonso, offering him Cuenca in exchange for military support. The first Christian troops entered the city in 1093. However, the Almoravids captured it in 1108. Their governor in Cuenca declared independence in 1144, followed by the whole of Murcia the following year. In 1147 Muhammad ibn Mardanis became King of Cuenca, Murcia and Valencia. He defended his lands from the Almohad invasion until his death in 1172, after which his son had to sign a pact of tributes with the newcomers. A 17-year-old Alfonso VIII of Castile tried to conquer the place, but after five months of siege, he had to retreat after the arrival of troops sent by the Almohad caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf. Alfonso signed a seven-year truce but when, in 1176 the Cuenca locals occupied some Christian lands in Huete and Uclés, Alfonso intervened at the head of a coalition including also Ferdinand II of León, Alfonso II of Aragon and the Military Orders of Calatrava, Santiago and Montegaudio, besieging Cuenca for months starting from 1177's Epiphany. The Cuenca's commander, Abu Bakr, again sought the support of Yaqub Yusuf, but the latter was in Africa and did not send any help. After an unsuccessful sortie against the Christian besiegers' camp on 27 July, Cuenca was conquered by Alfonso's troops on 21 September 1177, while the Muslim garrison took refuge in the citadel.

The latter fell in October, putting an end to Arab domination. Cuenca was given a set of laws, the Fuero, written in Latin, that ruled Cuenca's citizens, and it was considered one of the most perfectly written at that time. The diocese of Cuenca was established in 1183; its second bishop was St. Julian of Cuenca, who became patron saint of the city.

Alfonso X granted Cuenca the title of 'city' (ciudad) in 1257.[3]

 Cuenca by Anton van den Wyngaerde (1565).

During the next few centuries Cuenca enjoyed prosperity, thanks to textile manufacturing and livestock exploitation. The cathedral started to be built at that time, in an Anglo-Norman style, with many French workers, since Alfonso VIII's wife, Eleanor, had French cultural affinity.

 Engraving in La Ilustración Española y Americana depicting the sack of Cuenca by Carlists in July 1874

During the 18th century the textile industry declined, especially when Carlos IV forbade this activity in Cuenca in order to prevent competition with the Real Fábrica de Tapices (Royal Tapestry Factory), and Cuenca's economy declined, thus losing population dramatically (5,000 inhabitants). During the independence war against Napoleon's troops the city suffered great destruction, and it made the crisis worse. The city lost population, with only around 6,000 inhabitants, and only the arrival of railroads in the 19th century, together with the timber industry, were able to boost Cuenca moderately, and population increased as a result to reach 10,000 inhabitants. In 1874, during the Third Carlist War, Cuenca was taken over by Carlist troops, and the city suffered great damage once more.

The 20th century began with the collapse of the Giraldo cathedral's tower in 1902, which affected also the façade. It had to be rebuilt by Vicente Lámperez, with two new twin towers at both ends of the façade, which have remained unfinished without the upper part of them.

The first decades of the 20th century were as turbulent as in other regions of Spain. There was poverty in rural areas, and the Catholic Church was attacked, with monks, nuns, priests and a bishop of Cuenca, Cruz Laplana y Laguna, being murdered. During the Spanish Civil War Cuenca was part of the republican zone (Zona roja or: "the red zone"). It was taken in 1938 by General Franco's troops. During the post-war period the area suffered a major economic decline, causing many people to migrate to more prosperous regions, mainly the Basque Country and Catalonia, but also to other countries such as Germany. The city started to recover slowly from 1960 to 1970, and the town limits went far beyond the gorge to the flat surroundings.

In recent decades the city has experienced a moderate growth in population and economy, the latter especially due to the growing tourism sector, and both of them fuelled by improvements in road and train communications. Cuenca has strongly bet on culture and as a result of this it was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996.[4] In recent years, new cultural infrastructure such as the municipal Concert Hall and the Science Museum saw Cuenca unsuccessfully apply for the title of European Capital of Culture in 2016.[5]

^ Izquierdo Benito 1986, p. 13. ^ Izquierdo Benito, Ricardo (1986). Alfonso VI y la toma de Toledo (PDF). Toledo: Diputación Provincial de Toledo. p. 13. ISBN 84-00-06167-5. ^ "Conjunto Histórico de Cuenca". Consejería de Educación, Cultura y Deportes. Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha. Retrieved 3 June 2021. ^ "Historic Walled Town of Cuenca". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 14 September 2019. ^ "Designation of a European Capital of Culture for 2016 in Spain" (PDF). European Commission. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
Photographies by:
coral_fg from España - CC BY-SA 2.0
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