In Ifni and Spain, 20ᵗʰ century, a unit of capacity used for wine:
United Nations, 1966.
Technical Factors..., 1972, page 132.
Before 1801, the cántara was defined as the volume of 34 libras of water taken from the Tagus River as it flowed by Toledo.
The table below shows values in the mid-19th century of the cántara and cántaro in the parts of Spain that used them. A media cántara is half a cántara; that this distinction was made in the source probably indicates that that is the form in which the unit was actually used in that locality, so we have preserved it. The media arrobas for liquids have been added to show that these arrobas are essentially local equivalents to a media cántara. Notice that in many provinces the cántara was not used.
Province | Name of unit | Size,¹ liters |
---|---|---|
Alava | cántara | 16.365 |
Alicante | cántaro | 11.55 |
Ávila | media cántara | 7.96 |
Burgos | media cántara | 7.05 |
Castellón | cántaro | 11.27 |
Coruña | cántara de vino | 15.58 |
cántara de aguardiente | 16.43 | |
Huelva | (used the media arroba for liquids, which was very close to values for the media cántara) |
7.89 |
Huesca | cántaro | 9.98 |
Jaèn | (used the media arroba for wine, very close to values for the media cántara) |
8.02 |
León | media cántara | 7.92 |
Lèrida | cántara, for wine | 11.38 |
Logroño | cántara | 16.04 |
Madrid | (media arroba for liquids) | 8.15 |
Málaga | (media arroba for liquids) | 8.33 |
Murcia | (media arroba for wine) | 7.80 |
Navarra | cántara | 11.77 |
Orense | cántara | 15.96 |
Oviedo | cántara | 18.41 |
Palencia | media cántara | 7.88 |
Pontevedra | (used the medio cañado for liquids) | 16.35 |
Salamanca | medio cántaro | 7.99 |
Santander | media cántara | 7.90 |
Segóvia | (media arroba for liquids) | 8 |
Sevilla | (arroba for liquids) | 15.66 |
Soria | media cántara | 7.90 |
Teruel | cántaro | 10.66 |
Toledo | media cántara | 8.12 |
Valencia | cántaro of wine | 10.77 |
Valladolid | media cántara | 7.82 |
Zamora | medio cántaro | 7.98 |
Zaragoza | cántaro of wine | 9.91 |
1. Dirección General del Instituto Geográfico y Estadístico.
Equivalencias entre las Pesas y Medidas Usadas Antiguamente en las Diversas
Provincias de España y las Legales del Sistema Métrico-Decimal.
Publicadas de Real Orden.
Madrid: Imprenta de la Dirección General del Instituto Geográfica y Estadístico,
1886.
Two cantaras of water (21.28 quarts) are added....
Claude I. Dawson.
Curing and Packing Valencia Raisins.
U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce.
Daily Consular and Trade Reports.
Nos. 75-151; Volume 2; April, May and June 1913.
Washington: U.S.G.P.O., 1913.
Page 210. Report 85, April 12, 1913.
21.28 U.S. liquid quarts is about 20.14 liters. Whether the greater size is due to location, date or author error is unknown.
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Last revised: 12 January 2009.