西班牙阿尔拉卡市

西班牙阿尔卡拉市（2010年4月）

阿尔卡拉市位于西班牙中部的马德里大区，距离首都马德里仅35公里，人口20多万。1998年，阿尔卡拉市和大学城一起被联合国教科文组织列入世界文化遗产。阿尔卡拉城是马德里文艺复兴时期的著名大学城，众多保存完好的学院建筑、教堂、修道院和古城墙，与这里浓厚的文化气息，共同再现了文艺复兴的精神。

阿尔卡拉之所以著名，一是因为这是塞万提斯的故乡，二是因为这里还有距今已有500多年历史的阿尔卡拉大学，两者共同为阿尔卡拉小城渲染出了浓浓的文化气息。1486年，红衣主教希斯内罗斯创建的这所高等学院是欧洲最古老的大学之一，此后，整个城市都向着文化方向转变，城市也因大学而繁荣起来。

2010年4月，洛阳市与阿尔卡拉市缔结为友好城市。

Alcala, Spain (April, 2010)

Alcala is located in the Autonomous Community of Madridin central Spain, only 35 kilometers away from the capital Madrid, with a population of more than 200,000. In 1998, it was listed as World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. Alcala is a famous university city in the Renaissance of Madrid. Many well preserved college buildings, churches, monasteries and ancient city walls, together with the strong cultural atmosphere here, reproduce the spirit of the Renaissance.

Alcala is famous, first, because it is the hometown of Cervantes, and second, because there is University of Alcala, which has a history of more than 500 years. Both of them render a strong cultural atmosphere for the city. In 1486, the Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros founded the university, which is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Since then, the whole city has changed in the direction of culture, and flourished because of the university.

In April, 2010, Luoyang and Alkala became sister cities.