Calahorra (; ; ) is a municipality in the Spanish autonomous community and province of

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other List of municipalities in La Rioja, cities and towns in the ...

. During

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

times, Calahorra was a

municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (: ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ('duty holders'), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privileges ...

known as ''Calagurris Nassica Iulia''.

Location

The city is located on a hill at an altitude of 358 metres at the confluence of the Ebro and

Cidacos The Cidacos River is a tributary of the Spanish Ebro River. Its source is Los Campos, in Soria, and it flows for until it reaches the Ebro at Calahorra, La Rioja. It flows through or past various towns like Villar del Río, Yanguas, En ...

rivers, and has an area of 91.41 km². Calahorra is the second-largest city in La Rioja in population and importance, after the capital,

Logroño Logroño ( , , ) is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja, Spain. Located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, primarily in the right (South) bank of the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of pa ...

. Its population is 23,923 people. It is well-connected to other cities, especially by highway. It is situated in the Ebro valley, 48 kilometres from Logroño, 120 km from

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

and 180 km from

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

, and is connected to these cities by national highway 232, the A-68 motorway ( Vasco-Aragonesa) and the Bilbao-Zaragoza rail line. Its daily bus services link it to such cities as

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populatio ...

and

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

. Its status as seat of a ''comarca'' and judicial district make it a service-industry city in administrative, commercial and leisure fields.

History

Calahorra has been inhabited since the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

, and its stable population dates to the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

conquered the town in 187 BC and brought it to its highest point of importance as an administrative centre for surrounding regions. Calahorra supported

Quintus Sertorius Quintus Sertorius ( – 73 or 72 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who led a large-scale rebellion against the Roman Senate on the Iberian Peninsula. Defying the regime of Sulla, Sertorius became the independent ruler of Hispania for m ...

in his war against

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

, whom the city resisted successfully since 76 BC. It was only taken four years later by Pompey's legate Lucius Afranius, after a lot of inhabitants had died from starvation and there had occurred cannibalism.

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

and

Augustus Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

gave the city (then named ''Calagurris'') numerous distinctions, converted it into a municipality, and developed its city planning, economy, and politics. Its archeological remains show that it had a circus, baths, an amphitheatre, and other services found in large cities. It minted money and served as a justice administration centre.

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...

, well known for his descriptions of the culture of that time, was born in Calahorra, and the

Parador A ''parador'' (), in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries was an establishment where travelers could seek lodging, and usually, food and drink, similar to an inn. In Spain since 1928, a Parador is a state-owned luxury hotel, usually loca ...

in the city is named after him. It has Roman ruins in the grounds. Saints Emeterius and Celedonius, martyred in the city around 305 AD, are the patron saints of the city, and the city's coat of arms depict their names. The cathedral is dedicated to them. The Christian Roman poet Prudentius may have inhabited at some point in Calahorra, who pinpoints it on the territory of the Vascones in the 4th century. After the rule of the

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

in the 9th and 10th centuries the Christian king

García Sánchez III of Pamplona García Sánchez III (; 1012 – 1 September 1054),''Europäische Stammtafeln'': II #56, III.1 #145; Moriarty, ''Plantagenet Ancestry of King Edward III and Queen Philippa of Hainault'', p80, 109 nicknamed García from Nájera (, ) was King of ...

captured the city in 1045. Calahorra was once home to one of the most ancient

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

communities in Castile, dating to 1145 AD. In 1492, when the Jews were expelled, most left rather than become conversos. The population had reached 7,000 by the 1840s.''The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol.IV'', (1848) London, Charles Knight, p.19

Politics

Places of Interest

* Calahorra Cathedral

Twin cities

* Monte Compatri,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Caussade Caussade () is a commune in the district of Montauban, located in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in the south of France. Caussade, an ancient city of the white Quercy or lower Quercy, it is located in the hills of Quer ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Gallery

File:Catedral de Calahorra01.jpg, Cathedral of Calahorra (main facade). File:The_Chapel_at_la_Calahorra_Castle.jpg, Chapel of the Calahorra Castle, from an albumen print taken by the French photographer Jean Laurent, -1881 File:Calahorra-Cidacos.jpg, View of Calahorra

References

External links

Official Web Site

Calahorra (La Rioja) Web Site

{{Authority control Municipalities in La Rioja (Spain) Vascones Coloniae (Roman)