Tembleque is a municipality located in the

province of Toledo Toledo is a province of central Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Madrid, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Badajoz, Cáceres, and Ávila. Its capital is the city of Toledo. ...

, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2010

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

(

INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Instituto Nacional de Estadística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional de Estatística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional Elec ...

), 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 The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

Heraldry

The town has a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

featuring three towers over a small mountain and a cannon.(see note) The cannon symbolises the town's historical link with the

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

.(see note)

Landmarks

Buildings of interest include: * the main square (''Plaza Mayor'') * 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 The Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque, or Tembleque Aqueduct, is a Mexican aqueduct located between the towns of Zempoala, Hidalgo, and Otumba in the State of Mexico. The structure takes its name from a Spanish friar called Francisco de Tembleque. ...

in Mexico. This structure is now a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. * Nena Goodman (1910-1998), New York artist and philanthropist

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 Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitra ...

for making gunpowder.

References

External links

Municipalities in the Province of Toledo {{CastileLaMancha-geo-stub