Zafra (; ) is a town in the

Province of Badajoz The province of Badajoz ( ; ) is a province of western Spain located in the autonomous community of Extremadura. It was formed in 1833. It is bordered by the provinces of Cáceres in the north, Toledo, Ciudad Real in the east, Córdoba in ...

(

Extremadura Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

), and the capital of the

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

of Zafra - Río Bodión. It has a population of 16,677, according to the 2011 census. Zafra is the hometown of Fray Ruy Lopez, author of one of the first European treatises on chess, and the humanist Pedro de Valencia.

Roman era

Zafra has been associated with the Roman names ''Restituta Iulia Imperial'', ''Contributa Iulia Ugultunia'',Badajoz
(search for: 'Zafra') a

(on map, click on: 'Badajoz'). and ''Segida Restituta Iulia'', though this applies equally to some of the other towns in the area. The name ''Contributa Julia'' appears on an 1849 map of Roman ''Hispania'' (in the south-west of Spain, in the area named ''Baeturia'') alongside the name ''Regina'' (presently associated with the ruins of a small Roman town of the same name ), lending some geographical support to the possibility of an association of the name ''Contributa Iulia'' or ''Contributa Julia'' with Zafra. Other sources, however, support an association of the name ''Segida Restituta Iulia'' with Zafra. Yet other, authoritative, sources associate no Roman name with Zafra. In the area round Zafra may be found the remains of as many as 20

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

s. These, and associations between the name ''Restitutia Iulia'' and a migration from the legendary

Segeda Segeda is an ancient settlement, between today's Belmonte de Gracián and Mara, Aragon, Mara in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. Originally it was a Celtiberians, Celtiberian town, whose inhabitants, the Belli, gave it the name ''Sekeida'' ...

,Segeda and Rome. The historical development of a Celtiberian citystate.
(page 11, section: 'A Segedan colonisation in the Celtic Baeturia') by Francisco Burillo Mozota, Centro de Estudios Celtibéricos de Segeda, Seminario de Arqueología y Etnología Turolense, Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales de Teruel. may be linked to the origin of the town.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities in the Province of Badajoz

Roman era

See also

References