Logbook · 9 places

What to see and do in Alcántara

What to see and do in Alcántara (Comarca de Alcántara, Cáceres): 9 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 5 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Alcántara

Towns near Alcántara

What to see in Mata de Alcántara 5.5 km · 4 places
What to see in Piedras Albas 8.1 km · 4 places
What to see in Villa del Rey 8.5 km · 4 places
What to see in Ceclavín 15 km · 8 places
What to see in Brozas 15 km · 5 places
What to see in Zarza la Mayor 18 km · 7 places
What to see in Navas del Madroño 23 km · 3 places
What to see in Acehúche 23 km · 7 places

Spain › Extremadura › Cáceres › Comarca de Alcántara › Alcántara

What to see and do in Alcántara

Alcántara
Village
Villa on the banks of the Tajo, definitively reconquered by Alfonso IX in 1213. Four years later the king granted it to the Order of Calatrava, which, unable to defend it, ceded it in 1218 to Nuño Fernández, Master of the Order of San Julián de Pereiro (founded in 1156 and approved by Pope Alexander III in 1177), an order that, upon settling here, took the name Military Order of Alcántara. Next to the village lies the Alcántara reservoir (José María de Oriol), which was Spain's largest by capacity and, until 1990, the second largest in Europe, with 3,162 hm³, and its 957 MW hydroelectric power station.
Puente romano de Alcántara
Monument
Bridge over the Tajo river, traditionally dated to 103-104 AD under Emperor Trajan according to its dedicatory inscription, although some authors debate this attribution. It is 194 m long and 58.2 m high, with six unequal arches (the central one spans 28.8 m) and a 14 m-high triumphal arch on its axis. It suffered demolitions during the War of the Spanish Succession (a Portuguese attempt in 1707, repaired under Carlos III in 1778), the War of Independence (an arch was blown up in 1809 to hold back Napoleonic troops, replaced by a wooden footbridge until 1836), and the First Carlist War (that footbridge was burned in 1836); the architect Alejandro Millán rebuilt the arch for good between 1858 and 1860 under the reign of Isabel II. It was declared a Monumento Nacional on August 13, 1924. A new bridge, opened on October 20, 2025, has taken over vehicle traffic from it.
Convento de San Benito (Alcántara)
Monument
Seat of the Order of Alcántara, whose construction began in 1505 by order of the Catholic Monarchs, with the involvement over time of master builders such as Pedro de Larrea, Pedro de Ibarra and Sebastián de Aguirre, in a complex that blends Gothic, Renaissance and Plateresque styles. After the disentailment it was auctioned off in 1860 and remained in private hands for nearly a century, until Hidroeléctrica Española (predecessor of Iberdrola) acquired and restored it in the early 1960s.
Templo romano dedicado a Trajano
Monument
Located next to the Roman bridge, it is one of only two Roman temples preserved almost intact in Spain (along with the one in Vic). Its entrance is flanked by Tuscan columns and a triangular pediment, beneath which an inscription bearing the name of the bridge's builder, Gaius Julius Lacer, is preserved.
Torre del Oro
Monument
Tower built in 1778, during the reign of Carlos III, at the opposite end of the Roman bridge.
Muralla abaluartada de Alcántara
Monument
17th-century bastioned wall, built following border conflicts with Portugal (the town was even taken by Portuguese troops), which adds to the town's medieval wall of Muslim origin.
La Reconquista de Alcántara en 1213
Historical milestone
The former Muslim stronghold, called "Cantara as Saif" (bridge of the sword), was definitively conquered by Alfonso IX in 1213, after which the Order of Alcántara gradually transformed the old Muslim alcázar into today's Conventual de San Benito.
Embalse de Alcántara y central José María de Oriol
Curiosity
Built between 1964 and 1969 on the Tagus, the reservoir (also called Alcántara II) was at the time the second largest in Europe. Its hydroelectric power station, named José María de Oriol, remains key to renewable energy production in Extremadura.
Parque Natural del Tajo Internacional
Nature
Protected area declared in 2006, extending over 25,088 hectares along the border with Portugal and including, within the Alcántara region, the municipalities of Alcántara, Brozas and Zarza la Mayor. A refuge for threatened species such as the black stork, the Spanish imperial eagle, the black vulture, and the native river crayfish; since 2013 it has formed, together with its Portuguese counterpart, the Tajo-Tejo International Park.