Astorga, Spain

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Astorga, Spain

Astorga is a small town and episcopal see

Episcopal See

An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral....
, located in the province of León

León (province)

Le?n is a Provinces of Spain of northwestern Spain, in the northwestern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain of Castile and Leon.About one quarter of its population of 500,200 lives in the capital, Le?n, Le?n....
of Spain

Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
. It lies southwest of the provincial capital of León

León, Spain

The city of Le?n is the capital of Le?n in the autonomous communities of Spain of Castile and Leon, in northwest Spain. Its population of 136,985 makes it the largest municipality in the province, accounting for over one quarter of the province's population....
, and is the head of the council (comarca
Comarca

A comarca is a traditional region or local administrative division found in parts of Spain, Portugal, Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil.The comarca is also known in Aragonese language as redolada, and as bisbarra in Galician language....
) of La Maragatería

La Maragatería

La Maragater?a or Tierra de Maragatos, in Leonese Language, is a comarca in the province of Le?n....
. It is situated at 868 m above sea-level, and has an area of 47 km².

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Encyclopedia

Astorga is a small town and episcopal see

Episcopal See

León (province)

Spain

León, Spain

La Maragatería

La Maragater?a or Tierra de Maragatos, in Leonese Language, is a comarca in the province of Le?n....
. It is situated at 868 m above sea-level, and has an area of 47 km². The river Tuerto flows through it. Its population (2004) is about 12,207 people.

The coat of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways....
of the town includes an oak

Oak

The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of about 400 species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus , which are listed in the List of Quercus species, and some related genera, notably Lithocarpus....
branch.

Astorga lies in the area of the Maragatos, a small ethnic and cultural community with distinctive customs and architecture.

The Episcopal Palace of Astorga was built by Antoni Gaudí

Antoni Gaudí

Antoni Pl?cid Guillem Gaud? i Cornet ? in English sometimes referred to by the Spanish language translation of his name, Antonio Gaud? ? was a Spain Catalonia architecture who belonged to the Modernisme movement and was famous for his unique and highly individualistic designs....
and is one of the major attractions today, appart from the town cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. It is a Religion building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Anglicanism, Orthodox Christian and some Lutheranism churches, which serves as a bishop's seat, and thus as the central church of a dioc...
, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Astorga

Roman Catholic Diocese of Astorga

File:Palacio Episcopal de Astorga de noche.jpgThe Roman Catholic Diocese of Astorga is a diocese located in the city of Astorga, Spain in the Ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oviedo in Spain....
.

Astorga lies along the French route

The French Way

The French Way is the most popular of the routes of the Way of St. James, the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. It runs from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles on the Spanish side and then another 780km on to Santiago de Compostela through the major cities of Pamplona, Logr...
of the Way of St. James

Way of St. James

The Way of St. James or St. James' Way is the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the Twelve Apostles, James, son of Zebedee, are buried....
. Saint Turibius of Astorga was bishop of the city in the 5th century.

History

Astorga was originally a celtic settlement which later become one of the Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
strongholds in the region called by them Asturica. The Roman city was founded in the year 14 BC, being entitled by Emperor Octavian as Asturica Augusta. There are ruins of Roman baths that are still visible today.

Asturica was the main city in north-west Spain during the Roman Empire. Plinius called the city Urbs magnifica ("magnificent city"). The Via Platea went from Asturica (Astorga) to Emerita (Merida). One of the three firsts bishoprics in Spain was founded in Astorga, so the title of Bishop of Astorga is one of the oldest religious charges of Europe.

After the campaigns of Alfonso I of Asturias

Alfonso I of Asturias

Alfonso I , called the Catholic , was the King of Asturias from 739 to his death in 757....
(739-757) against the Moors

Moors

In the Spanish language, the term for Moors is Moro; in Portuguese language the word is mouro. There seems to have been some confusion about the relationship of the word moro/mouro to the word moreno , both from Greek language ma?ros, i.e....
, the city was abandoned, being in the largely empty buffer zone between Moors and Christians known at the time as "The Desert of the Duero" and was part of the Repoblación
Repoblación

The repoblaci?n was the ninth-century repopulating of a large region between the River Duero and the Cantabria which had been depopulated in the early years of the Reconquista....
("repopulation") effort carried out a century later, during the reign of Ordoño I of Asturias

Ordoño I of Asturias

Ordo?o I became the King of Asturias in 850. He was born in Oviedo, where he spent his early life in the court of Alfonso II of Asturias. He was probably associated with the crown from an early age....
(850-866). Astorga suffered from decadence until the 11th century, when the city became one of the main points in the French route for the pilgrims to Saint Jacob's tomb in Compostela. In the 15th century began the construction of the Cathedral, which was not finished until the late 18th century.

During the Peninsular War

Peninsular War

The Peninsular War or Spanish War of Independence was a contest between First French Empire and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Kingdom of Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars....
, Astorga was besieged by the French Napoleonic troops. Astorga was the farthest town in the Iberian Peninsula in which the Emperor Napoleon resided.

External links

Astorga municipal government website

Astorga, Spain

History

External links

See also