PLASENCIA (PLACENTIN), DIOCESE of. - City and diocese in Spain, whose territory extends not only over the civil province of Cáceres, but also partly over those of Salamanca, Badajoz, and Avila.
It has an area of 10,647 sq. km., with a population of 340,000 inhabitants, of whom 339,900 are Catholics; it has 168 parishes with 206 diocesan priests and 25 regular clergy, 6 male and 42 female religious communities (Ann. Pont., 1952, p. 320).
The diocese was founded by Clement III in 1189 at the request of King Alfonso VIII of Castile, founder of the city. It was formerly a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Compostella; since 1851 it has instead been suffragan to Toledo. The patrons of the diocese are St. Fulgenzio and St. Fiorentina. The cathedral church, begun between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, boasts a high altar with fine sculptures by Gregorio Hernandez and a choir with richly carved stalls by Rodrigo Aleman.
PLATA (la) or CHARCAS, DIOCESE of: V. SUCRE, DIOCESI di.