Benavente, Zamora

Benavente is a town and municipality in the north of the province of Zamora, in the autonomous community Castile and León of Spain. It has about 20,000 inhabitants.

Located north of the capital on an important communications hub, it was repopulated by King Ferdinand II of León, who also awarded it law-codes (a fuero) in 1167. It was originally known as Malgrat or Malgrado.

12th century - Catholic Monarchs
After the death of Fernando II of León who renamed the town from Malgrat to Benavente and led a campaign in 1164 to repopulate the city, as part of a long process of reconquest from the Moors. Alfonso IX and Alfonso X continued to help the growth of Benavente through privileges and grants. When Alfonso IX of León died, the town was the scene of the definitive union of the Crowns of León and Castile in the Concordia of Benavente, later falling into decline until Sancho IV promoted its aggrandizement in 1285, attracting new settlers with franchises.

In 1352 Fadrique Alfonso, brother of King Pedro I, received the town in exchange for not attacking Pedro. In 1387 Benavente was surrounded by the English and Portuguese troops of the Duchy of Lancaster who tried to besiege it, and the besiegers were defeated in this attempt.

Location
Benavente is located in the North of Province of Zamora, in the North-West of Spain. It is 65 km away from Zamora City and 260 km from Madrid and its coordinates are 42° 0' N 5° 41' W. The adjacent municipalities of Benavente are Villanueva de Azoague, Manganeses de la Polvorosa, Santa Cristina de la Polvorosa, Villabrázaro, San Cristóbal de Entreviñas, Castrogonzalo, Santa Colomba de las Monjas and Arcos de la Polvorosa, all of them belonging to Province of Zamora.

Roads and Highways
Benavente is connected to the national road network through different roads and highways:


 * · Autovía Ruta de la Plata: Gijón - Oviedo - Mieres - Puerto Pajares - León - Benavente - Zamora - Salamanca - Béjar - Plasencia - Cáceres - Mérida - Sevilla.
 * · Autovía del Noroeste. Madrid - Benavente - Lugo - A Coruña - Arteixo
 * · Autovía de las Rías Bajas. Benavente - Sanabria - Verín - Ourense - Vigo.
 * N-610· Palencia-Benavente.

Bus Services
Bus services are provided in the Bus Station by different companies like Alsa, Auto-Res, Empresa Vivas, Linecar or Autocares Julio Fernández. There is a taxi stand in the Bus Station.

National lines
Daily services to: A Coruña, Astorga, Algeciras, Asturias (Oviedo-Gijón), Ávila, Badajoz, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cáceres, Cádiz, Cangas de Narcea, Irún, La Bañeza, León, Lugo, Logroño, Málaga, Madrid, Mérida, Ourense, Monforte, Palencia, Plasencia, Ponferrada, Pontevedra, Salamanca, San Fernando, San Sebastián, Santiago de Compostela, Sevilla, Valladolid, Verín, Vigo, Villablino, Zafra, Zamora and Zaragoza.

International lines

 * Switzerland
 * Germany
 * Belgium
 * Holland
 * France - (París)
 * France (Lyon - Grenoble)
 * Andorra

Regional lines

 * Alcubilla de Nogales
 * Alija del Infantado
 * Arcos de la Polvorosa
 * Ayoo de Vidriales
 * Camarzana de Tera
 * Carracedo - 13:00
 * Cubo de Benavente
 * Ferreras de Abajo
 * Milles de la Polvorosa
 * Molezuelas
 * Mozar
 * Puebla de Sanabria
 * Pueblica de Valverde
 * Santa Colomba de las Monjas
 * Santibáñez de Vidriales
 * Tábara
 * Uña de Quintana
 * Valle del Tera
 * Valderas
 * Villafáfila
 * Villalpando
 * Villanueva de Azoague
 * Villarrín de Campos

Local Service
Senior citizens have a free urban bus service.

Taxi
The town has several taxi stands, one of them in the Bus Station.

Plaza mayor
The main square is plaza mayor where the Town hall building is located.

Parador

 * Parador de Turismo Fernando II, which occupies the Caracol Tower, a 16th-century castle with wide segmental miradors and a Mudéjar coffered ceiling in the main section

Churches

 * Church of Santa María de Azogue, in Romanesque style, begun in 1180. It has a Latin cross plan, with a nave and two aisles, separated by cruciform pilasters, with five apses. The nave has Gothic cross vaults added in the 16th century. The interior is home of several Gothic sculptures, such as that of the "Annunciation" (13th century)
 * San Juan del Mercado Church, in Romanesque style (12th-13th centuries). It has three decorated portals with the Adoration of the Magi, the Virgin and Child and scenes of the birth of Jesus.

Hostel

 * Hospital of La Piedad, an old pilgrim hostel.

Other

 * Hermitage of Soledad (early 16th century)
 * Caracol Tower

Events



 * Fiestas de la Veguilla. The local celebration in honor of the Virgen de la Vega to celebrate the torno al llamado (Monday of Pascuilla).
 * Fiestas del toro enmaromado. Celebrated the day before the corpus, where the young men run (Running of the Bulls) in front of a long rope held on the horns of a bull.

Hotels

 * "Parador de Turismo Rey Fernando II de León" (H****)	Paseos de la Mota, s/n
 * "Villa de Benavente" (H ****)	Avda. de las Américas, s/n
 * "Santiago" (H ***) Avda. Maragatos, 34
 * "Orense" (H **) C/ San Antón Viejo, 4
 * "Arenas" (H *)	Ctra. de Madrid, Km 261

Hostels

 * "Hostal Avenida" (HS**) Avda. El Ferial, 17
 * "Bristol" (HS**) C/ Santa Cruz, 44.
 * "Universal" (HS**) C/ Sancti Spíritus, 17
 * "Alameda" (HS**) Autovía Madrid - Coruña km. 262
 * "Covadonga" (HS**) Avenida Federico Silva, 16
 * "Paradero 3" (HS*) Autovía Madrid – Coruña Km 261
 * "Paraíso" (HS *) C/ los Herreros, 64
 * "La Trucha" (HS) C/ la Viña, 5
 * "Jara" (HS) Autovía Madrid-Coruña km. 261
 * "Pensión La Trapería" (P) C/Agujero de San Andrés, 10

Climate
It is characterized as a Mediterranean climate with continental characteristics due to the altitude of the municipality and its distance to the sea. The amount of winter frosts is increased, taking place even in spring, with consequential damage to some of the local agriculture.

Twin towns – sister cities

 * 🇲🇽 Puebla de Zaragoza, Puebla, México.
 * Vila Real, Portugal.

Notable people

 * José Carlos Guerra, painter.
 * Maria Josefa Alfonso Pîmentel Tellez Girón Borja y Centelles, fourteenth Countess and twelfth Duchess of Benavente, a patron of Goya and Boccherini
 * Fray Toribio de Benavente o Motolinía (1477–1569), a missionary to Mexico
 * Alonso Briceño, one of the thirteen conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro
 * Luis de Carvajal the Younger, Crypto-Jewish writer and martyr
 * Pita Pizarro (1792–1845), a minister of Isabella II of Spain
 * Francisco de Castro Pascual (1871–1949), microbiologist
 * José Nuñez Pernía (1805–1879), a Marquis of Nuñez and the first president of the Sociedad Hahnemanniana Matritense
 * Pedro Nuñez Granés (1869–1944), engineer
 * Celestino Alonso Rodríguez Valdespino (1828–1875), chess player
 * Federico Silva Muñoz (1923–1997), politician
 * Laura Iglesias Romero, a scientist who does research for the CSIC
 * Francisco José Ynduráin (1940–2008), scientist
 * Almudena Fernández (born 1977), model

Language
Regional speech is influenced by the Leonese language.

Cinemas and theatres

 * "Reina Sofía" Theatre.
 * "Multicines Benavente" Cinema.