Village
40,132 inhabitants (INE 2025), the second most populous municipality in the province of Cáceres and the fourth in Extremadura. It sits at 406 m in altitude (the town center at 352 m). It was founded as a city by Alfonso VIII of Castile in 1186 under the Latin motto "Ut placeat Deo et hominibus" ("that it may please God and men"). The diocese of Plasencia was created in 1189; in 1475 the wedding of Juana la Beltraneja to Alfonso V of Portugal was held here; in 1653 the city purchased its vote in the Cortes, giving rise to the province of Extremadura.
Monument
Medieval wall preserved from around 1200, declared a Bien de Interés Cultural, Spain's highest level of heritage protection; of the 71 original towers, 21 survive.
Monument
Plasencia's cathedral complex is the result of two overlapping buildings: the plan was to demolish the Old Cathedral (begun in the late 13th century, in a style between Romanesque and Gothic) as the New Cathedral (in Plateresque style, completed in the 18th century) advanced, but when funding ran out the two remained joined together, which is why it is known as Plasencia's "hybrid cathedral." The city's historic quarter is declared a Bien de Interés Cultural, Spain's highest level of heritage protection.
Activity
The Tuesday market has been held in the Plaza Mayor since the 13th century. Every year, on the first Tuesday of August, the Martes Mayor festival is held, recreating that historic market.
Activity
Plasencia's Holy Week is declared a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Regional (Festival of Regional Tourist Interest) of Extremadura.
Curiosity
The city is cited in the Cantigas de Santa María of Alfonso X the Wise, in the episode known as "the bull of Plasencia." Joaquín Sorolla depicted it in his painting El mercado (1917). The city of Placentia, in Canada, takes its name from Plasencia.
Village
Head town of northern Extremadura, on the banks of the river Jerte, with an extensive walled historic center that preserves two unfinished, adjoining cathedrals.
Historical milestone
The city was founded by King Alfonso VIII of Castile in 1186 as a royal stronghold facing the kingdom of León and al-Ándalus; it remained under the crown's direct jurisdiction until 1442.
Monument
Defensive wall commissioned by Alfonso VIII in the late 12th century, with seven gates into the city, built to protect Plasencia from Andalusi and Leonese forces.
Monument
Church transitional from Romanesque to Gothic, built between the 13th and 15th centuries, with a round-arched Romanesque doorway and a scene of the Annunciation in its upper niche; part of its naves were later extended to fit together with the Catedral Nueva.
Monument
Begun in 1498 in Gothic style and continued through the 16th century, it was left unfinished when the economic prosperity funding it came to an end; together with the Catedral Vieja it forms a pair of two adjoining 'half buildings', witness to the city's historical vicissitudes.
Monument
Built in the 16th century to bring water from the Cabezabellosa and El Torno mountains to the city, it is 200 meters long with 55 round arches, today integrated into Plasencia's urban landscape.
Monument
A building where, according to historical tradition, the wedding of Juana la Beltraneja and Afonso V of Portugal was held on 29 May 1475.
Monument
The episcopal palace of Plasencia, a building depicted in a painting by Joaquín Sorolla.
Historical milestone
The old alcázar of Plasencia was demolished in 1941.
Monument
A bridge of medieval origin located next to the Torre del Ambroz, an early medieval defensive structure in Plasencia.
Monument
The town hall building on the Plaza Mayor of Plasencia, built between 1517 and 1523.
Historical milestone
An archaeological site within the municipal term of Plasencia that has yielded prehistoric pottery from the so-called Boquique culture.
Nature
A mixed dehesa area of holm oaks and cork oaks in the surroundings of Plasencia.
Monument
A sanctuary dedicated to the patroness of Plasencia, built in the early modern period.