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Article: Discovering Spain's conquistador country // Extremadura evokes a past of harsh glory
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- March 19, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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TRUJILLO, Spain We had interrupted the plump nun at her morning task
of sweeping the gateway to the 17th century Dukes of San Carlos
Palace in this Extremaduran town, which styles itself "Cradle of the
Conquistadors."
Behind us in the main square, a majestic space fit for a city 10
times Trujillo's size, rose the bronze equestrian statue of its most
famous native, Francisco Pizarro. This onetime swineherd of bastard
birth set off in 1523 at age 48 to conquer the Incan empire and
plunder the treasures of Peru. Adventurers like Pizarro and Hernan
Cortes were a prime export of Extremadura, the sun-baked region
southwest of Madrid that still is one of the least prosperous parts
of Spain.
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