HISTORY of our region: Extremadura SPAIN
Ancient settlers • Ancient settlers in Extremadura lived in caves and painted on the walls (cave art) • They also built some monuments made of stones in which they buried dead people o their ashes (dolmen)
• Those ancient civilizations were Celts and Iberians. Later on they joined together and were called Celtiberian
Romans • 2000 years ago, Romans divided Extremadura into two provinces: Bética and Lusitania, whose capital was Emérita Augusta (Mérida)
Muslims • They arrived in Spain from the north of Africa in VIII century • They stayed in Extremadura for hundreds of years and lived peacefully with Spanish and Extremeños • They built a great variety of monuments, for example the Citadle in Badajoz
Extremeños around the world •
Later on the region was for a long period of time the border between Moorish and Christian. After the reconquest it arrived to new splendor with the discovery of America, when it was the cradle of several famous conquerors from Extremadura
Pizarro founded Lima city (Peru)
Hernán Cortés discovered Mexico
Vasco Núñez de Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean
Other personalities from Extremadura • Some other well-known people from this region of Spain are: – Politics: Bravo Murillo and Manuel Godoy – Musicians: Cristóbal Oudrid and Juan Vázquez – Painters: Luis de Morales, Francisco Zurbarán, Adelardo Covarsí