Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad": Volume 12, Slice 6Various
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Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad": Volume 12, Slice 6
Various
Encyclopedias and dictionaries
GUADALAJARA, the capital of the Spanish province of Guadalajara, on the
left bank of the river Henares, and on the Madrid-Saragossa railway, 35
m. E.N.E. of Madrid. Pop. (1900) 11,144. Guadalajara is a picturesque
town, occupying a somewhat sterile plain, 2100 ft. above the sea. A
Roman aqueduct and the Roman foundations of the bridge built in 1758
across the Henares bear witness to its antiquity. Under Roman and
Visigothic rule it was known as _Arriaca_ or _Caraca_; its present name,
which sometimes appears in medieval chronicles as _Godelfare_,
represents the _Wad-al-hajarah_, or "Valley of Stones," of the Moors,
who occupied the town from 714 until 1081, when it was captured by Alvar
Yanez de Minaya, a comrade of the more famous Cid. The church of Santa
Maria contains the image of the "Virgin of Battles," which accompanied
Alphonso VI. of Castile (1072-1109) on his campaigns against the Moors;
and there are several other ancient and interesting churches in
Guadalajara, besides two palaces, dating from the 15th century, and
built with that blend of Christian and Moorish architecture which
Spaniards call the _Mudejar_ style. The more important of these is the
palace of the ducal house del Infantado, formerly owned by the Mendoza
family, whose _panteon_, or mausoleum, added between 1696 and 1720 to
the 13th-century church of San Francisco, is remarkable for the rich
sculpture of its tombs. The town and provincial halls date from 1585,
and the college of engineers was originally built by Philip V., early in
the 18th century, as a cloth factory. Manufactures of soap, leather,
woollen fabrics and bricks have superseded the original cloth-weaving
industry for which Guadalajara was long celebrated; there is also a
considerable trade in agricultural produce.
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