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Alcantarilla is a town and municipality in southeastern Spain, in the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia. The town is only 7 km away from the capital of the region, the city of Murcia, and one of its peculiarities is that it is completely surrounded by "pedanías" (satellite districts or boroughs) of the municipality of Murcia like Sangonera La Seca, San Ginés, Nonduermas, Puebla de Soto, La Ñora, Javalí Viejo and Javalí Nuevo. The town is part of a low-lying fertile plain rich in gardens, orchards and citrus fruits, known as the "Huerta", which includes the valleys of the river Segura and its right-hand tributary the Guadalentín or river Sangonera and is surrounded by mountains. The Huerta belongs mainly to the large administrative authority of the city of Murcia but it also includes other small municipalities (Alcantarilla, Beniel y Santomera) that could not be omitted from the Huerta's framework either functionally or visually. It should be also mentioned that is the town where the Parachutist Academy of the Spanish Royal Air Forces has the base (at Alcantarilla Air Base), and it is also used by the Parachutist Academy of the Spanish Army (Parachutist Brigade) that has the base in Murcia, but not far from the air base. == History == Human presence in Alcantarilla dates from prehistoric times. Iberian and Roman settlement remains have been found, including a beautiful vase of Greek origin that can be seen in Murcia's Archeological Museum. Since a road linking the former Carthago Nova, (today's Cartagena) with inland Hispanic towns crossed the town in Roman times, Roman presence seems to have been constant in the town for some centuries. The first reference to the town in historical records is from the twelfth century, when the Muslim geographer Al-Idrisi writes about the town of Qantara Asqaba (قنطرة اشكابة), between Murcia and the nearby Librilla, on the way to the province of Almería. "The nearest bridge" (translation of Qantara Asqaba) must have been the one that over the river Segura, some 400 metres up the river from the present bridge that links La Ñora and Puebla de Soto with Alcantarilla. Alcantarilla soon became part of Al-Andalus. In the 8th century, nearly all the Iberian peninsula, which had been under Visigothic rule, was quickly conquered (711–718), by Muslims (the Moors), who had crossed over from North Africa, defeating the Visigoths. Visigothic Spain was the last of a series of Christian and pagan lands conquered in a great westward charge from the Middle East and across north Africa by the religiously inspired armies of the Umayyad empire. During the centuries that the Muslim domination of southern and central Spain lasted, Alcantarilla was part of the Kingdom of Murcia, the latter caming into independent existence as a taifa centered on the Moorish city of Murcia after the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba (11th century). After the Battle of az-Zallaqah (also known as Battle of Sagrajas) in 1086 the Almoravid dynasty swallowed up the taifas and reunited Islamic Spain. With the Reconquista (Reconquest), the town came to be known as "Alcantariella" or "the small bridge". Ferdinand III of Castile received the submission of the Moorish king of Murcia in 1243. In 1252 the King Alfonso X gave the town to the Order of Alcántara, when Murcia was still only a Castilian protectorate. In 1266, when Murcia finally was under full Christian control, the town remained a part of the territories that were left to the Muslim King of La Arrixaca Muhammad ibn-Hud, but four years later it became a property of Queed Doña Violante. The battles that took place in relation to the succession of King Alfonso X of Castile had an impact on the town and the king handed the town in to the town of Murcia in 1283 on condition that Alcantarilla be inhabited by a Christian population. This would have amounted to the incorporation of the town as a district of the town of Murcia and a different historical development of the town but the death of Alfonso X the following year and the crowning of King Sancho IV did not make the incorporation possible. Alcantarilla would continue to be an independent town with a Muslim population until the 16th century and maintained its independence up until the present day. The town would again be transferred to Queen Doña Violante until 1296, when Murcia and its region (including Alcantarilla) were transferred to the Kingdom of Aragon. The town was then given by the King of Aragon to the nobleman Joan Garcés de Loasia and remained an Aragonese possession until 1300, when Queen Doña Violante took possession of the town again. After the Queen's death, the town came to belong to Ms. María de Molina until her death in 1321. Alcantarilla's status would stabilise that year when the town council and bishop of Cartagena took over. One of the historical episodes of the town that have made a strong popular impression on the present population is the existence of the Inquisition in the town in the 18th and 19th centuries, based in today's Casa de Cayitas. This seems to be the reason why citizens from Alcantarilla and nearby towns still consider Alcantarilla as "the town of witches", although it is clear that the kind of medieval witch burnings associated with the Inquisition in popular culture never took place in the town. During the second half of the nineteenth century, many geographic, economical and structural issues made possible a large redevelopment of Alcantarilla. Thus, the once small village saw its biggest growth ever. Indeed, the Main Street and Alcantarilla's centre were completely transformed into a new space. These changes, beginning in the 16th century, were obvious when an important bourgeois class settled down along the Main Street attracted by its strong industry and excellent communications. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alcantarilla」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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