Almagro is a town in the Campo de Calatrava region, in the province of Ciudad Real, and belonging to the autonomous community of Castilla - La Mancha.
The first signs of human presence in the area correspond to remains from the Bronze Age. Roman coins and a tombstone from the same period have also been found, which is currently on display in the town hall.
Visigoths and Arabs populated the area. The name of Almagro came, in fact, with the Muslim occupation. In the 13th century, the town was granted a charter and in 1273 Alfonso X the Wise convened the Cortes, an important meeting in which the king tried to secure the support of faithful nobles in a turbulent time of disputes.
Of its cultural heritage, the Plaza Mayor stands out, with its portico, and the numerous palaces found in the town: Palace of the Marquises of Torremejía, Palace of the Counts of Valparaiso, Palace of the Medranos, Palace of the Oviedos, Palace of the Fúcares or the Villareal-Robles palace.
The extensive heritage of Almagro also includes the Corral de Comedias, a typical seventeenth-century theater excellently preserved. With a capacity of three hundred people, it continues to represent plays at the International Classical Theater Festival. The same festival also has as venues the municipal theater, from the 19th century and neoclassical style, and the San Juan de Dios hospital (today the Adolfo Marsillach theater - San Juan hospital), built in the 17th century. The National Theater Museum and the Campo de Calatrava Ethnographic Museum, as well as the Lace Museum or the Contemporary Art space are also examples of the important cultural offer in Almagro.
Religious architecture is also abundantly represented in Almagro with buildings such as the Madre de Dios church, the San Blas church, the Santísimo Sacramento convent, the Santa Catalina de Siena convent, the Dominican Encarnación convent, the the Asunción de Calatrava, the church of San Bartolomé, the convent of Nuestra Señora del Rosario or the hermitage of San Juan Bautista.
Almagro's economy combines agriculture (cereal, vines, olive trees, almond trees) with sheep and cattle farming, and basalt quarries and manganese and gypsum mines.
Almagro, in Campo de Calatrava, in the very center of the province, has a strategic position in its physical and cultural environment. The city of the corral theater, houses the only Corral de Comedias that has remained intact and active since the beginning of the 17th century to the present day, and which is, to a large extent, the emblem of the city. It maintains all its parts: hall, lodging, patio, casserole, galleries and stage, as well as an intense activity that makes the city grow, especially during the International Festival of Classical Theater.
However, despite its importance, Almagro is not only the Corral de Comedias or the activity that derives from it. Declared a Historic-Artistic Site, the entire city envelops us in culture, art, tradition and Castilian flavor. The walk through its streets will give us the delight of each of its corners, opening the restless look that will not know where to choose to perch.
The Plaza Mayor, monumental and wide, stands out for the porticoes set behind the Tuscan stone columns, which support some covered galleries that make it unique in its class.
The numerous religious buildings: Convent of the Incarnation, Church of the Mother of God, Convent of Santa Catalina, Church of San Bartolomé, etc. they complete the artistic spirit of the traveler who will make a journey through styles and works of different and singular beauty.
Translated by Google •
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