Fans of Game of Thrones who are lucky enough to wander through Caceres will probably find themselves in a very familiar setting. Specifically, with King’s Landing, the capital of the seven kingdoms created by George R. R. Martin. It was not by chance that the super-production by HBO chose this city in Extremadura to film several scenes, which perfectly preserves its mediaeval essence and its noble character.

Indeed, for centuries, Caceres has been a trade route city and a political centre for the nobility. In fact, many of its corners were the backdrop for a real game of thrones in the 15th Century, when Isabel of Castile and Juana la Beltraneja fought for the crown of Castile, which Isabel the Catholic won. A war between powerful rival factions that is reflected in the layout of the city, full of fortified houses, palaces and defensive towers.

The Old Town of Caceres, one of the most complete urban centres from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in the world, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986. As highlighted by the international body, this city in Extremadura stands out for its “wide range of constructions, which range from popular architecture to stately homes, with their characteristic sobriety and towers of the nobility from the Gothic and Renaissance era”. It also states that the battles between Muslims and Christians in the city “are reflected in its architecture – a mix of Roman, Islamic, Northern Gothic and Italian Renaissance styles”, along with its churches, chapels and convents.

As well as its recognition by UNESCO, the ‘Monumental City of Caceres’ was declared by the Council of Europe to be the Third Monumental Site in Europe in 1968, after Prague and Tallinn.

Caceres has the oldest documented human presence in Extremadura; this can be seen in the pictorial vestiges made by hand prints discovered in some caves in its surrounding areas, which date back to several eras of the Late Stone Age. But the first settlement was the Roman camp of the Norba Caesarina colony, close to the important communication route which later became known as the Silver Route.

At the turn of the 5th Century, the Visigoths levelled the Roman settlement and the city remained dead until the 8th-9th Century. It was the Muslims who took advantage of the enclave as a military base to fight the northern Christian kingdoms during the early centuries of the Reconquest. Specifically, in 1147, Abd al-Mumin founded the current city of Caceres. Given its border location, between the 7th and 8th Centuries, Caceres passed through the hands of the Portuguese, the Kingdom of Leon and the Almohads, until King Alfonso IX of Leon definitively reconquered it in 1229.

In its great era of splendour, between the 14th and 16th Centuries, the city suffered from internal disputes between the nobility. This problem was resolved by Queen Isabel of Castile, who handed down various orders, including pulling down the towers and other defensive elements of the palaces and houses in Caceres. As from the 18th Century, this city enjoyed strong demographic growth, thanks to the arrival of people from other territories, which led to the formation of a local middle class, which became stronger in the following centuries with the discovery of phosphate sites and the arrival of the railway.

Nowadays, Caceres is a modern university city, brimming with cultural activities. These include the recent opening of the Helga de Alvear Museum of Contemporary Art, which displays one of the most important private collections of modern art in Europe; the Foro Sur Ibero-American Art Fair, and the WOMAD Festival.

 

The Plaza Mayor also hosts another of the emblematic features of Caceres: the Arco de la Estrella - the main gateway to the monumental city. Built in the 18th Century in a Baroque style, it joins Plaza Mayor to Plaza de Santa María, which was the political and religious centre of the city. The Roman Forum was previously located in this square, and later on the Church of Santa María – which holds the status of a procathedral, built in a mixed style of Romanesque and Gothic, and the episcopal palace.

Square of San Jorge. Foto: turismo.caceres.es​

In addition to these two squares you can find the Squares of San Jorge and of San Mateo. The former makes up one of the prettiest and most welcoming sites in Caceres, while the other is a typical picture-postcard city location. There you can see the stairs that provide access to the Church of San Francisco Javier – in the Baroque style – and the College of the Compañía de Jesús, along with the Gardens of Cristina de Ulloa. On the stairs, inside a niche, you can see the image of St George, the patron saint of the city.  In turn, in the Square of San Mateo, you can see the church bearing the same name – one of the oldest temples in Caceres, along with the Gothic Convent of San Pablo; and the Palace of the Cigüeñas (as the Palace of the Caceres-Ovando is popularly known), built at the end of the 15th Century, which stands out due to its defensive tower.