Aroche () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

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 ...

located in the province of

Huelva Huelva ( , , ) is a municipality of Spain and the capital of the Huelva (province), province of Huelva, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. Located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits betwee ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

. According to the 2005

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, the town had a population of 3,319.

History

The Roman city of Arucci Turobriga, in the

Hispania Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces created in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula) in 27 BC. Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of ...

, was established during the reign of

Augustus 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 ...

in 15-10 BC, probably as the merger of two older Celtic towns: Arucci and Turobriga. This city was located in the plains below current Aroche, by the Ermita de San Mamés. Although it has been speculated that this corresponds to the original Turobriga, it is still unclear whether this is the case, since there are barely any sources on Turobriga apart from a list of towns by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

and the epithet ''Turobrigensis'' applied to the local deity

Ataegina Ataegina (; ) was a goddess worshipped by the ancient Iberians, Lusitanians, and Celtiberians of the Iberian Peninsula. She is believed to have ruled the underworld. Names The deity's name is variously attested as ''Ataegina'', ''Ataecina'', ...

. Arucci Turobriga was mostly depopulated during the late Roman Empire and was later settled by the

Almohades The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb). The Almohad ...

, who built its castle in the 12th century, during the reign of

Abu Yaqub Yusuf Abu Ya‘qub Yusuf or Yusuf I ( ''Abū Ya‘qūb Yūsuf''; 1135 – 14 October 1184) was the second Almohad ''Amir'' or caliph. He reigned from 1163 until 1184 in Marrakesh. He was responsible for the construction of the Giralda in Seville, whi ...

, who also oversaw the construction of the

Giralda The Giralda ( ) is the bell tower of Seville Cathedral in Seville, Spain. It was built as the minaret for the Great Mosque of Seville in al-Andalus, during the reign of the Almohad dynasty, with a Renaissance-style belfry added by the Catholics ...

in Seville. Similarly to Moura and

Serpa Serpa (), officially the Municipality of Serpa (), is a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality in the Districts of Portugal, district of Beja District, Beja in Alentejo region, southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 15,623, in an area of ...

, Aroche and Aracena may have been conquered by the Order of the Hospital and incorporated to the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...

during the reign of Sancho II, circa 1230–1233, although it has been suggested the Christian occupation may have had to wait to the void of Muslim power in the area caused by the Fall of Seville in the late 1240s. The area, occupied by

Afonso III of Portugal Afonso IIIrare English alternatives: ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', or ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese), ''Alfonso'' or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician languages, Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin). (; 5 May 121016 February 1279), ca ...

by 1251, was theoretically granted together with Aracena to the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...

in 1253, although the effective and definitive transfer happened in 1267 as settled in Treaty of Badajoz. In fact, Afonso III granted Aroche a ''

fuero (), (), (), () or () is a Spanish legal term and concept. The word comes from Latin , an open space used as a market, tribunal and meeting place. The same Latin root is the origin of the French terms and , and the Portuguese terms and ...

'' in 1255.

Demographics

Gallery

File:Aroche-P1040765.JPG, Monument File:Aroche-P1040769.JPG, Roman remains in the archaeological museum File:Aroche-P1040771.JPG, The Castle File:Aroche-P1040773.JPG, Museo del Rosario

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * *

External links

Aroche
- Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía Municipalities in the Province of Huelva {{andalusia-geo-stub

History

Demographics

Gallery

See also

References

External links