Cáceres (Spain)

Having written a review on the city I am currently living in, I felt I owned one review to the city I previously lived in. So I’ll give you an insight of the city where the famous Sadieblackeyes lived and studied for 5 years! ; )


CACERES is situated in the county of EXTREMADURA, in the South-West of Spain. EXTREMADURA consists of two provinces, CACERES and BADAJOZ (the latter being the name of Sadie’s hometown). Caceres is ...
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It is 300 kms west of Madrid, capital city of Spain, and it is also 300 kms East of Lisbon, capital city of Portugal. Most Spaniards don’t realize 'how close' Portugal is from Spain and they get shocked when they find out that it takes the same amount of time to go to Madrid and to go to Lisbon from Caceres...o_0 (free rambling thought sponsored by SadieBlackeyes : )

CACERES
Caceres has 91.500 inhabitants; it is ... more

Having written a review on the city I am currently living in, I felt I owned one review to the city I previously lived in. So I’ll give you an insight of the city where the famous Sadieblackeyes lived and studied for 5 years! ; )

CACERES is situated in the county of EXTREMADURA, in the South-West of Spain. EXTREMADURA consists of two provinces, CACERES and BADAJOZ (the latter being the name of Sadie’s hometown). Caceres is the capital of the province of Caceres (rather obvious eh!?)

It is 300 kms west of Madrid, capital city of Spain, and it is also 300 kms East of Lisbon, capital city of Portugal. Most Spaniards don’t realize 'how close' Portugal is from Spain and they get shocked when they find out that it takes the same amount of time to go to Madrid and to go to Lisbon from Caceres...o_0 (free rambling thought sponsored by SadieBlackeyes : )

CACERES
Caceres has 91.500 inhabitants; it is not a big city indeed although as it is one of the two university cities in Extremadura, its population increases 15.000 inhabitants-students from September to June.

Caceres was declared UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986 and is considered the third monumental grouping site in Europe.

THE WEATHER
Winters are warm (5º-10º degrees) and summer are hot (30º-35º) but it is cooler than the south of the county so it is very nice to visit during spring.

MONUMENTAL CACERES
The Old part of the city or ‘Ciudad Monumental’ is the most attractive part, as it holds impressive buildings dating from XII century.

PLAZA MAYOR: The Main Square is the central point of the Old part and although it has been changed throughout the years it remains one of the most beautiful squares of the country. Plaza Mayor borders with the Tower of Bujaco, the ‘Arco de la Estrella’ and with the Main Hall. From the main square one can go directly to the shopping street called ‘Pintores’ (translated Painters street). This main square is also very famous because in the roofs of the surrounding buildings one can see several storks´ nests; storks are protected species and Extremadura have many more than any other place in Spain.

TOWER OF BUJACO: Situated on the right hand side on the Plaza Mayor, it is the emblem of the city together with the Arch of the Star. It was originally built by Arabs around the XII century and it is 25 metres high and is made of stone. The view from the tower is simply breathtaking and so it is a highly recommended visit.

ARCO DE LA ESTRELLA: translated as the Arch of the Star, it was built around the XV century and it used to be the main gate into the Old city. Re-built by the famous Manuel de Larra Churriguera (who created its own style, Churrigueresco style), the Arch shows the heraldic of the city and it holds the Virgin of the Star, a stone little figure (Virgen de la Estrella) next to a little star-shaped light lamp. When visiting the city this is one of the most charming places to see, and also a little bit frightening at night…

SANTA MARIA is the Co cathedral of Caceres (sharing title with the city of Coria and its own co cathedral : ). It was built following Romanic style around the XV century. It is situated in Santa Maria square, next to San Jorge square.

PLAZA SAN JORGE: translated as St. George square this is another impressive place, situated close to the church of St. Francisco Javier and palace of Golfines. I used to live close to this square; I have walked through the square many times so I recommend visiting this part. (There are normally musicians playing guitar and other instruments around this square and the visit is much nicer while you listen to their music : )

OTHER PLACES worth visiting in the Old city are: Palacio de las Ciguenas (Palace of the Storks), Palacio de Carvajal (Palace of Carvajal), Ermita de la Paz, Casa del Sol (The House of Sun)…

THE CITY LIFE
Besides the old part, Caceres is a very lively city where many cultural events are programmed throughout the year. As it is currently competing to be elected European Capital of Culture 2016, they are constantly organizing artistic events around the city.

I would say the central part of the city (apart from the old part) is PASEO CANOVAS, this is a long street surrounded by gardens where there is a constant flow of people.

From here one can go to the West part of Caceres: to the ‘CRUZ DE LOS CAIDOS’, the bus and train stations, and the road to RECINTO HÍPICO (more details on this later).

‘CRUZ DE LOS CAIDOS’ is a huge Cross made of white stone in memory of those who died during the Civil War. Nowadays this is the most central point of Caceres and the best place to live as there are many shops, pubs and bus stops around (all that any student needs lol)

RECINTO HÍPICO Originally a racetrack (that’s where horse races take place, right?), this place is outside the city (4 km), and it is a place where concerts, festivals and many university parties are arranged. There is a Rock music festival every year around March which is becoming one of the best in Spain (rock, punk and hip-hop music mainly), it is called EXTREMUSICA.
This is also the place where many concerts take place during WOMAD festival, every year in May (very soon! : )

The East part of the city is actually the Old part so I will not comment more on that!

To the North of PASEO CANOVAS one goes to the road to the University Campus. There is only one campus in Caceres and it is placed quite far from the city. There is a special bus line called Campus Line which goes from ‘CRUZ DE LOS CAIDOS’ to the campus every 5 minutes (so no excuses for being late or not attending lessons, what a pity!). The University of Caceres is an average one, the faculty of Humanities and Laws are not well considered in the rest of the country indeed (myself being an example of the level of the uni : ). However, Technology and Architecture are well considered, so I guess there is somehow a kind of balance…

In the North part of Caceres there is also a huge and wide Park called Prince Park (PARQUE DEL PRINCIPE), where you can enjoy yourself laying down on the grass in Spring and Summer (very nice place to spend Sundays!), or running along for those sporty people out there, or doing any other thing you do in the park :D

Finally, to the South of the Paseo Canovas, there is a long street going down till COLON SQUARE. Around this square there are many good and cheap bars normally full of hungry penniless students :D

EVENTS
As I said Caceres is a very cultural city, compared to BADAJOZ for instance which is much bigger. Every year there is a THEATRE festival, which is quite famous in Spain and also the Rock Festival EXTREMUSICA. Besides Caceres is one of the two places in Spain (together with CANARY islands) where WOMAD festival takes place, around the second week of MAY every year.

WOMAD is one of the most populous festivals in the South West of Spain and for 4 days Caceres become a multicultural city where almost any kind of artistic performance can be seen. Standing for World of Music Arts and Dance, this festival is well known to British people as it was founded by Peter Gabriel back in the 80s. It is all about cultural mixing! Unfortunately after many years attending I won’t be there this year… : (

RESTAURANTS AND HOTELS
Being the most tourist city in the region, Caceres offers easy and cheap accommodation as well as many good places to eat delicious food.

Here are some of the best hotels around the city: Hotel AH Agora (4 stars, 93 euros double room), Hotel Melia Caceres Boutique (4 stars), Hotel Alfonso IX (3 stars, 63 euros double room), Barceló V centenario (4 stars). All these hotels are very nice and all close to the old part and the modern part of the city as well.

And for good restaurants, here you have some recommendations: try the most typical food of the region at Dehesa Santa Maria (Isabel de Moctezuma boulevard), El Montaito, Alcazaba (General Espronceda street) or La Fusa (San Pedro street). For luxurious meals go to Agora (Parras street), Aldana (Orellana street) or Atrio (Espana boulevard). And of course you can always find Mcdonalds and Burger King around, near the Plaza Mayor.

NIGHTLIFE
Although Caceres used to be very famous for its nightlife in the past, it still has good places to party all night. To the north of the Plaza Mayor there is La Madrila, a little square surrounded by many pubs and discos where you can listen to different kinds of music. Near the Plaza Mayor there are also some pubs like El Corral de las Ciguenas, Habana or Belle Epoque where one can enjoy listening to live music. There are a couple of clubs like Submarino (same as in Salamanca!), Versus or Cameron, all are open until 7 in the morning or even later. I have had great party times in Caceres and I like going back there every now and then because people from Caceres are very nice, welcoming and warm people.

OVERALL
Caceres is definitely worth visiting, it is situated in a beautiful region and it is a wonderful city to spend holidays. Its Old part is charming and it is a cheap city so one can enjoy good restaurants and party all night long without spending too much money.

I hope this has been somehow useful to you and that now you know something more about my region which is the one of the most unknown parts of Spain. Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed this visit!!
Sadie-Sara. 

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