Sierra de Villuercas or Sierra de las Villuercas, also known as Sierra de Guadalupe after nearby Guadalupe town, is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in the greater

Montes de Toledo The Montes de Toledo are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in the Iberian Peninsula. They divide the drainage basin of the Tagus from the basin of the Guadiana. The highest peak is high La Villuerca. Description The Montes de Toledo are ...

range,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is located in

province of Cáceres The province of Cáceres ( ; es, provincia de Cáceres, ) is a province of western Spain, and makes up the northern half of the autonomous community of Extremadura. Its capital is the city of Cáceres. Other cities in the province include Pla ...

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

. Rivers Almonte and Ibor, tributaries of the

Tagus The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see #Name, below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections ...

, and the Ruecas and Guadalupe River, tributaries of the

Guadiana The Guadiana River (, also , , ), or Odiana, is an international river defining a long stretch of the Portugal-Spain border, separating Extremadura and Andalusia (Spain) from Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal). The river's basin extends from the e ...

, have their sources in this range.

Description

The Sierra de Villuercas stretches for about 60 km in a roughly NNW/SSE direction in the southeast of Cáceres Province. From its northern end a lower ridge stretches in an arch further westwards from

Deleitosa Deleitosa is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. , according to the (INE) census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given popu ...

. Southwards there is a straight low ridge aligned in a N/S direction connecting with the Sierra de los Golondrinos prolongation further south straddling river

. The lower

Sierra de Montánchez Sierra de Montánchez is a mountain range in the greater Montes de Toledo range, Spain. It is named after nearby Montánchez town, the capital of the Tierra de Montánchez comarca, located on its slopes. This range gives its name to the Mancomun ...

extends further west of the Sierra de Villuercas. This range is parallel to the

Sierra de la Palomera Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range i ...

and

Sierra de Altamira Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range i ...

further east of Guadalupe. There is an abundance of fossils of

Ammonites Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) ...

Trilobites Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the At ...

Brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, w ...

Graptolites Graptolites are a group of colonial animals, members of the subclass Graptolithina within the class Pterobranchia. These filter-feeding organisms are known chiefly from fossils found from the Middle Cambrian ( Miaolingian, Wuliuan) through th ...

and

Cloudinid The cloudinids, an early metazoan family containing the genera ''Acuticocloudina'', ''Cloudina'' and ''Conotubus'', lived in the late Ediacaran period about 550 million years ago. and became extinct at the base of the Cambrian. They formed mil ...

s in certain points of the range. The highest point of the range is conspicuous

La Villuerca La Villuerca, also known as ''Risco de la Villuerca'', ''Pico la Villuerca'' and ''Pico de las Villuercas'' is the highest peak of the Sierra de Villuercas range, also known as ''Sierra de Guadalupe''. It is located 6 km west of Guadalupe town ...

(1,603 m), which gives name to

Las Villuercas Las Villuercas is a ''comarca'' located in the province of Cáceres, western Spain. It belongs to the Autonomous Community of Extremadura. Despite the traditional strong identity of its inhabitants, this historical region has not been able to ach ...

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

and is the highest point of the greater Montes de Toledo range. Cervales (1441 m), Carbonero (1428 m), Ballesteros (1342 m), Sobacorbas (1320 m) o Risco Redondo (1287 m).

Geology

The Sierra de Villuercas geological structure is similar to the

geology of the Appalachians The geology of the Appalachians dates back to more than 480 million years ago. A look at rocks exposed in today's Appalachian Mountains reveals elongate belts of folded and thrust faulted marine sedimentary rocks, volcanic rocks and slivers of ...

. The range is mainly composed of

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

s and

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

s that are often exposed in its jagged peaks. There are also interesting conglomerate geological formations made up of quartzite

boulders In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In co ...

and unstratified

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

s known locally as ''"rañas"''.

History

This

mountainous A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

area was the scenario of the

Battle of the Sierra Guadalupe The Battle of the Sierra Guadalupe ( en, Guadalupe Mountains), also known as the Tagus Campaign, was a continuation of the Nationalist Army's race north toward Madrid in the early stages of the Spanish Civil War. In mid-late August 1936, the thre ...

, a bloody conflict at the beginning of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. Hugh Thomas, ''The Spanish Civil War''. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1961

References

External links

*
Las Villuercas

Pictures of las VilluercasNieve en Las Villuercas II
Geography of the Province of Cáceres

Villuercas Las Villuercas is a ''comarca'' located in the province of Cáceres, western Spain. It belongs to the Autonomous Community of Extremadura. Despite the traditional strong identity of its inhabitants, this historical region has not been able to ach ...

Mountain ranges of Extremadura {{extremadura-geo-stub