Province of Guadalajara

Guadalajara (ɡwaðalaˈxaɾa) is a province of Spain, belonging to the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. As of 2019 it had a population of 258,890 people. The population of the province has grown in the last 10 years. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. The province has been inhabited since the Paleolithic as evidenced by stone tools found on the banks of the Henares and Linares rivers. There are also numerous prehistoric cave paintings in the Cueva de los Casares in Riba de Saelices while Megalithic tombs from the 4th millennium B.C. have been found at various sites in the province including Alcolea del Pinar. There are remains of several Bronze Age settlements along the river banks in the area, notably that in Loma del Lomo in Cogolludo as well as a late Bronze Age settlement in Mojares. The Celtiberians occupied the territory during the late Iron Age between the 6th and 3rd centuries B.C. in Sigüenza, Atienza, and Termancia in the north and further south around Molina. In addition to raising livestock and breeding horses, they created many fortified towns and villages as well as castles. Between 143 and 133 B.C., the Romans initiated their battles to conquer Spain which continued until 94 B.C. They brought agriculture, mining, and commerce to the region, facilitating communications with roads and bridges. The important Roman city was Segontia (Sigüenza), although they built a town wall around Luzaga and public buildings. The Visigoths, with their capital at Toledo, were dominant in the area around the 6th and 7th centuries A.D., bringing Christianity and Germanic law into the region. In 578, King Leovigild founded Recópolis on the River Tagus with a basilica and a palace. The Moors arrived in the area in c. 711, establishing Islamic rule for some four centuries until the early 13th century. Their most important contribution was founding of the current-day provincial capital, Madinat-al-Faray (Guadalajara, from Arabic وادي الحجارة wādi al-ħajāra, "streambed/valley of stones"), which was established by the Berber captain al-Faray, remembered for overcoming the Christians in the 9th century.

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Related concepts (3)

Visigoths

The Visigoths (ˈvɪzɪɡɒθs; Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the command of Alaric I. Their exact origins are believed to have been diverse but they probably included many descendants of the Thervingi who had moved into the Roman Empire beginning in 376 and had played a major role in defeating the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378.

Spain

Spain (España, esˈpaɲa), or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España), is a country located in Southwestern Europe, with parts of its territory in the Atlantic Ocean and across the Mediterranean Sea. The largest part of Spain is situated on the Iberian Peninsula; its territory also includes the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla in Africa.