Tembleque, Spain

Tembleque
Flag Coat of arms
Tembleque Show map of Spain Tembleque Show map of Castilla-La Mancha
Coordinates: 39°41′41″N3°30′15″W / 39.69472°N 3.50417°W / 39.69472; -3.50417
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Castile-La Mancha
Province	Toledo
Municipality	Tembleque
Area
• Total	269 km2 (104 sq mi)
Elevation	637 m (2,090 ft)
Population  (2024) [1]
• Total	2,009
• Density	7.5/km2 (19/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

Tembleque is a municipality located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2010 census (INE), the municipality had a population of 2 390 inhabitants, but it has since declined.

History

The name is of Iberian origin. At that time there were a lot of villages with names ending in "que".

After the reconquest of Toledo, the village belonged to the Knights Hospitaller.

On the eve of the expulsion of Spain's Jews in 1492, Tembleque had a small Jewish community, remembered through the activities of the moneylender Mose Abenamias, who appears to have been the village's main source of credit. ^[2] Several cases preserved in royal orders show how, after the expulsion, his promissory notes (written promises to repay debts) were sold to Christian residents. ^[2]

Heraldry

The town has a coat of arms featuring three towers over a small mountain and a cannon.(see note ¹ ) The cannon symbolises the town's historical link with the artillery.(see note ² )

Landmarks

Buildings of interest include:

• the main square (Plaza Mayor) ^[3]
• the church of the Assumption (Nuestra Señora de la Asunción), which dates from the 16th century.

Famous inhabitants

Francisco de Tembleque gave his name to the Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque in Mexico. This structure is now a World Heritage Site. ^[4]

• Nena Goodman (1910-1998), New York artist and philanthropist ^[5]

Notes

1. ^ In heraldry "escutcheon" would be a more precise translation of the Spanish term escudo than "coat of arms".

2. ^ The village supplied saltpetre for making gunpowder.

References

1. Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
2. Beinart, Haim (2001). The Expulsion of the Jews from Spain. Littman Library of Jewish Civilization. Vol. 1. Translated by Jeffrey M. Green. Oxford: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization in association with Liverpool University Press. p. 174.
3. Tembleque. www.spain.info website
4. "Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque hydraulic system" . Retrieved 2019-06-06.
5. "Nena Goodman, 88, Painter and Arts Patron". The New York Times. 1998-03-20. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-04-16.

External links

Media related to Tembleque at Wikimedia Commons