Ciudad Real (, ) is a municipality of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the

province of Ciudad Real The province of Ciudad Real () is a province in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca, Albacete, Jaén, Córdoba, Badajoz, and Toledo. It is partly located ...

. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. It was founded as Villa Real in 1255 as a royal demesne town and enclave long surrounded by territory belonging to the military order of Calatrava. Its history in the late middle ages was influenced by friction with the latter.

History

It was founded in 1255 with the name ''Villa Real'' ('Royal Town') under the auspices of

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germany on 1 Ap ...

, who granted it a charter that followed the model of Cuenca's. It was not founded from scratch, but founded over Pozuelo de San Gil, a hamlet belonging to the land of Alarcos. An independent royal demesne enclave embedded within the dominion of the Military Order of Calatrava, repopulation struggled initially. Weary of the influence of Villa Real, the masters of the Order of Calatrava established a rival market in nearby Miguelturra seeking to disrupt the town's economic activity. Jews soon settled in Villa Real, with the existence of a middle-sized jewry already documented by 1290, only three decades after the foundation of Villa Real. Friction between Villa Real and the Order of Calatrava reached its climax towards 1323, with an armed conflict between the two parties. Villa Real hosted the Cortes of Castile in 1346. The local '' aljama'' was by and large dismantled upon the 1391 pogroms. The endogenous element of antisemitism was underpinned by the Jews' deals with the Calatravans throughout the 14th century and their local reputation as loan sharks. Juan II of Castile granted ''Villa Real'' the status of city in 1420, thus becoming ''Ciudad Real'' ('Royal City'). The city most probably did not have more than 2000 inhabitants by the time and despite having celebrated Cortes once, the dominant city in the area was still Almagro. After the unification of the Iberian kingdoms under the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

, Ciudad Real became the capital of the in 1691. This fact favoured its economic development which was shown by the construction of several important buildings. The

1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, All Saints' Day, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In ...

destroyed many of these buildings. In 1809, during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, French troops defeated the Spanish army and occupied the town, using the local hospital as their headquarters and barracks. Following the creation of the

as per the 1833 territorial division, the status of provincial capital of Ciudad Real was challenged by the cities of Almagro and Manzanares, with a similar population by the mid-nineteenth century. However the initiatives intending to take the provincial capital out of Ciudad Real did not succeed. Much of the centre was destroyed during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

Geography

Location

Ciudad Real is located in the southern half of the Inner Plateau, in the central part of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, at about 625

metres above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...

. The city is part of the Campo de Calatrava natural region, a transitional region between the ''Montes'' and

La Mancha La Mancha () is a natural region, natural and historical region in the provinces of Spain, Spanish provinces of province of Albacete, Albacete, province of Cuenca, Cuenca, province of Ciudad Real, Ciudad Real and province of Toledo, Toledo. It ...

, remarkable in the context of the Iberian Peninsula because of its volcanic origin. The plaza del Pilar is precisely built on the centre of a shallow volcanic

maar A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption (an explosion which occurs when groundwater comes into contact with hot lava or magma). A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow ...

. As Ciudad Real itself was the capital of the province of La Mancha in the 18th century, the whole

is often considered as part of La Mancha in a wider sense. The location of Ciudad Real—without any major water stream passing through the city—leaves the

Guadiana The Guadiana River ( , , , ) is an international river defining a long stretch of the Portugal-Spain border, separating Extremadura and Andalusia (Spain) from Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal). The river's basin extends from la Mancha and the e ...

to the North and the Jabalón (a left-bank tributary of the former) to the South. The urban nucleus was founded 7.5 km to the North-East of Alarcos (a fortified archeological site located on a hill). Despite enjoying a location at the crossroads of the

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

–

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

and the Levante–

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

corridors, the city did not particularly prosper historically thanks to this circumstance. The city currently forms a near urban continuum with neighbouring Miguelturra.

Climate

The city has a

cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''BSk''), with cool winters (due to its altitude) and hot to very hot dry summers. Like many other cities of Castilla-La-Mancha, the precipitation is limited throughout the year. It has one of the highest annual temperature ranges in the Iberian Peninsula, exceeding . The precipitation in the Campo de Calatrava is sparse, with a high year-to-year variability and the area features high levels of

evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the combined processes which move water from the Earth's surface (open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation) into the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of w ...

, particularly in Summer.

Sports

The city previously had a handball team, the

BM Ciudad Real Balonmano Ciudad Real was a Spanish handball team based in Ciudad Real, Castilla La Mancha. BM Ciudad Real played in Liga ASOBAL. History In July 1983 is founded in the city of Ciudad Real a handball club named Asociación Deportiva Cultural ...

, which was the winner of the handball

EHF Champions League The EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the men's com ...

in 2006, 2008 and 2009. The handball club was one of the best in the world and its home arena, the Don Quixote Arena, was one of the biggest in the Spanish professional league. BM Ciudad Real, however, moved its team to Madrid in 2011; renamed as "Atlético Madrid", it dissolved in 2013.

Transport

The city has a railway station on a high-speed rail line, the Ciudad Real railway station. A high-capacity airport ( Ciudad Real Central Airport) was built in the city, but closed in 2012. The privately funded airport cost an estimated €1 billion to build, and was for sale for €100 million plus payment of the developer's debt. In July 2014 this was reduced to €80 million in a further attempt to find a buyer. In July 2015 the airport was auctioned to the lone bidder, Chinese company Tzaneen International, for €10,000. The airport was reopened on 12 September 2019. The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Ciudad Real, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 33 min. 3% of public transit riders, ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 8 min, while 1% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 2 km, while 0% travel for over 12 km in a single direction. Material was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Main sights

The Plaza Mayor sits in the centre of Ciudad Real. Today, only two parts of the wall that surrounded the city in medieval times remain standing: The Toledo Gate.

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

's Museum is situated next to Parque de Gasset. The Museo Elisa Cendreros exhibits an old collection of fans and carved wood. The Ermita de Alarcos is the oldest church in Ciudad Real. The Iglesia of Santiago is also the most beautiful and oldest church in Ciudad Real, it was built at the end of the 13th century in romanic style. Its style is Gothic. It is decorated with gothic paintings and with seven-headed dragons, the ceiling is decorated with stones forming eight pointed stars. Another important church in Ciudad Real is Iglesia de San Pedro (Church of

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

). It is the most interesting and typical monument of the city. It was built during the 14th and 15th centuries. Its style is Gothic, and it houses the tomb of Chantre de Coca, confessor and

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

of the

Ciudad Real Cathedral The Holy Priory Church Cathedral Basilica of the Military Orders of Our Lady Saint Mary of the Prado, also known as the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Prado for short, is located in Ciudad Real, autonomous region of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. Co ...

, built in the 16th century, has the second-largest

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

in Spain and a magnificent

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

."Catedral de Santa María del Prado"
Turismo de Castilla-La Mancha. Retrieved 31 August 2013.

Education

Ciudad Real has 24 primary schools and 6 secondary schools. The high school "Torreón del Alcázar" was founded in 1987. In the first years there were only vocational studies, thirty teachers and 350 students. Some years later the high school incorporated the compulsory secondary studies and A levels. At the moment there are 80 teachers and 1200 students. In the year 1995 the high school was offered the opportunity to become a bilingual school. In the year 2005 the first bilingual group arrived. See University of Castilla–La Mancha (UCLM), Campus of Ciudad Real.

Events

One of the most popular festivals in the city is ''La Pandorga'', which takes place July 30 and 31. On the last day of the month the festival honours its patroness, ''La Virgen del Prado''. The usual attire of the participants consists of jeans, a white shirt, and the traditional handkerchief.

People

* (1451–1531), military captain who stood out during the

Granada War The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It ended with the defeat o ...

* Manuel Cáceres Artesero (1949-2025), known as "Manolo el del bombo", the most famous

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

fan in the world *

Manuel Marín Manuel Marín González (21 October 1949 – 4 December 2017) was a Spanish politician, former President of the Congress of Deputies of Spain. He was a long-time member of the European Commission, and acting president during the Santer Commis ...

(1949–2017), president of the Congress of Deputies and acting president of the European Commission * José María Barreda (born 1953), former president of Castile–La Mancha * Fernando Luna (born 1958), professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player * Juande Ramos (born 1954), former manager of Real Madrid Football Club *

Javier Botet Javier Botet López (born 30 July 1977) is a Spanish actor. Often cast in creature roles, he portrayed Tristana Medeiros in the ''REC'' franchise (2007–2009), the title character in '' Mama'' (2013), Set in '' The Mummy'' (2017), Slender Man ...

(born 1977), horror actor with

Marfan syndrome Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a multi-systemic genetic disorder that affects the connective tissue. Those with the condition tend to be tall and thin, with dolichostenomelia, long arms, legs, Arachnodactyly, fingers, and toes. They also typically ha ...

Jordi El Niño Polla Ángel Muñoz García (; born 11 September 1994), better known as by his stage name Jordi "El Niño Polla" ("Jordi 'The Dick Boy), often shortened to Jordi ENP, is a Spaniard, Spanish pornographic film actor, pornographic actor, Film producer, p ...

(born 1994), pornographic actor

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * * {{Authority control *