Soria () is a municipality and a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

city, located on the

Douro The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish Soria Province, province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern par ...

river in the east of the autonomous community of

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

and capital of the

province of Soria Soria is a Province (Spain), province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Castile and León. Most of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area. Demo ...

. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial population. The municipality has a surface area of 271,77 km², with a density of 144.97 inhabitants/km². Situated at about 1065 metres above sea level, Soria is the second highest provincial capital in Spain. Although there are remains of settlements from the Iron Age and Celtiberian times, Soria itself enters history with its repopulation between 1109 and 1114, by the Aragonese king Alfonso I the Battler. A strategic enclave due to the struggles for territory between the kingdoms of Castile, Navarre and Aragon, Soria became part of Castile definitively in 1134, during the reign of Alfonso VII.

Alfonso VIII Alfonso VIII (11 November 11555 October 1214), called the Noble (El Noble) or the one of Las Navas (el de las Navas), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at Alarc ...

was born in Soria, and

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germany on 1 Ap ...

had his court established when he received the offer to the throne of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. In Soria, the deposed king James IV of Mallorca died, and

John I of Castile John I (; 24 August 1358 – 9 October 1390) was King of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1379 until 1390. He was the son of Henry II of Castile, Henry II and of his wife Juana Manuel of Castile. John ascended to the throne in 137 ...

married. Booming during the Late Middle Ages thanks to its border location and its control over the cattle industry, Soria went into a slow decline over the next few centuries. It was damaged greatly during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. The city preserves an important architectural heritage (extensive medieval walls, Renaissance palaces and architecturally distinctive Romanesque churches) and is home to the Numantine Museum (with pieces from the nearby Celtiberian city of

Numantia Numantia () is an ancient Celtiberian settlement, whose remains are located on a hill known as Cerro de la Muela in the current municipality of Garray ( Soria), Spain. Numantia is famous for its role in the Celtiberian Wars. In 153 BC, Num ...

). Soria's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in , holding home games at '' Nuevo Estadio Los Pajaritos''. Besides football it ...

is named after this city. It is one of the smallest cities to ever have had a team in Spain's top division

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

. Today, its population of 38,881 makes Soria the least populated provincial capital of Castile and León and the second least populated in Spain (after

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel (province), Teruel Province. It had a population of 35,900 as of 2022, making it the least populated provincial capital in Spain. It is noted for its har ...

). Particularly important in its economy is the agri-food industry, while an increasing number of tourists are attracted by its cultural heritage. Soria was mentioned by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

as a good example when including the Mediterranean diet in its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Name

It is claimed that in Roman times there was a castle called Oria, purportedly named after a Greek knight called Doricus. Based on this folk etymology, some historians guessed that the first inhabitants of this city might have been the

Dorians The Dorians (; , , singular , ) were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Greeks, Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans (tribe), Achaeans, and Ionians). They are almost alw ...

. Archaeology has not confirmed that story. Instead it has suggested that the first inhabitants were the

Suebi file:1st century Germani.png, 300px, The approximate positions of some Germanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 1st century. Suebian peoples in red, and other Irminones in purple. The Suebi (also spelled Suavi, Suevi or Suebians ...

, whose kings (as reported by Tutor and Malo in their ''Compedio historial de las dos Numancias'') established one of their courts there. These two hypotheses have been abandoned because of lack of evidence. It seems more likely that the name ''Soria'' may have its origin in the word ''dauria'' from the river ''Durius'' (

Shield

The

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

of Soria has the following heraldic description: The king in the coat of arms is

, born in Soria, and the red field represents the blood shed by the Sorians, particularly in the battles of

Alarcos Alarcos is a small hill and archaeological site located in the Campo de Calatrava region of the Iberian Peninsula. Standing at 675 metres above mean sea level, the hill is made of quartzite rocks together with lithic components of volcanic origin, ...

, Navas de Tolosa and

Aljubarrota Aljubarrota () is a ''freguesia'' ("civil parish") in the municipality of Alcobaça, Portugal. It was formed in 2013 by the merger of the parishes of Prazeres and São Vicente. Its population in 2011 was 6,639Church of Nuestra Señora de la Mayor, which already reflected the city's motto. Unlike the current official coat of arms, the king who now appears on the bust of the castle's keep on the castle's bell tower, is represented in the bell of San Gil with his entire body at the foot of the castle, leaving through its door.

History

The first recorded inhabitants in the area of Soria were the

Celtiberians The Celtiberians were a group of Celts and Celticized peoples inhabiting an area in the central-northeastern Iberian Peninsula during the final centuries BC. They were explicitly mentioned as being Celts by several classic authors (e.g. Strabo) ...

, around the 4th century BC. After the fall of the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

, the rebuilt city was occupied by the

. Later, after the Arab conquest of Spain, it grew in importance due to its proximity to the border of the Christian lands, which in the 8th century had settled along the Duero river. In 869 Soria was the centre of the rebellion of Suleyman ibn-Abus against the

emir of Córdoba Emir (; ' (), also transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has ...

, who sent his son Hakan to quench it. Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre, the Battler seized the territory away from the sphere of the Kingdom of León, controlling the territory from 1109 to 1134, entrusting the role of first tenant of Soria to Íñigo López already by 1119, when the effective repopulation should have started, although there are claims tracing it back some time earlier. Soria was granted a short ''

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 March 1120, that also fixed limits to the medieval ''concejo''. After the death of Alfonso I in 1134, Alfonso VII of León, the Emperor took control of the territory. The short ''fuero'' was confirmed by Alfonso VII in 1143. Due to its strategic placement at the borders of the Kingdoms of Castile,

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

and León, Soria in the Middle Ages was at the centre of several conflicts between them.

Alfonso VIII of Castile Alfonso VIII (11 November 11555 October 1214), called the Noble (El Noble) or the one of Las Navas (el de las Navas), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at Alarc ...

, in reward for its support, gave the city several privileges which it maintained until modern times. In 1195 the town was stormed by

Sancho VII of Navarre Sancho VII (; 11577 April 1234) called the Strong (, ) was King of Navarre from 1194 until his death in 1234. He was the son and heir of Sancho VI, whom he followed as the second king to hold the title of ''King of Navarre''. Sancho VII was ...

, but later recovered and continued to develop its splendour and trades. Soria lost most of its importance after the unification of Aragón and Castile in 1479, and above all after the decree of exile issued against the Jews in 1492. In the

War of Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish ...

(early 18th century), Soria sided for Philip V. In 1808 it was captured and set on fire by the French troops. AHPSo255

The economical and social crisis of Spain in the early 20th century, and the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

with

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

's dictatorship which followed, had negative effects on Soria and its neighborhood, which became depopulated due to strong emigration. The policy of the current authorities aims to strengthen the local economy pivoting on Soria's tourism potential, and has also launched a programme of reconstruction for the neighbouring villages.

Culture

The poet

Antonio Machado Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz (26 July 1875 – 22 February 1939), known as Antonio Machado, was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation ...

(1875–1939) spent five years in Soria teaching French in a secondary school, before moving to

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...

nearer Madrid. These years in Soria proved significant in his literary development. He married and lost his wife there and discovered much about the nature of the Castilian people – a subject the Generation of '98 authors were very interested in. ''Campos de Soria'' was a series of poems lamenting his wife's early death. They formed part of a major collection ''Campos de Castilla''. The firewalking rituals performed at the Sorian village of

San Pedro Manrique San Pedro Manrique is a municipality in the province of Soria, Castile and León, Spain. , it had 626 inhabitants. Since the mid-nineteenth century this municipality has aggregated smaller villages. There is a deposit of lead in the municipali ...

every June as part of the festival of San Juan have been declared as a tradition of National Tourist Interest and have attracted global attention through ethnographic and scientific studies and media coverage.

Religion

Although Soria never was a bishopric, its St. Peter's Church became the

Co-Cathedral A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...

of the bishopric of Osma when that was renamed Roman Catholic Diocese of Osma-Soria on 9 March 1959. The

has a

Minor Basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

, the Marian Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Milagros, in Ágreda.

Main sights

; Ecclesiastical *

Plateresque Plateresque, meaning "in the manner of a silversmith" (''plata'' being silver in Spanish language, Spanish), was an artistic movement, especially Architecture, architectural, developed in Spanish Empire, Spain and its territories, which appeared ...

Concatedral de San Pedro, erected in the 12th-13th centuries, rebuilt in the 16th century, and its cloister. * '' San Juan de Rabanera'', Romanesque church from the 12th century * ''San Polo'', a former monastery of the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

. The churches of ''San Nicolás'' and ''San Ginés'' are from the same age. * the Romanesque convent church of

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

(12th century) * ''Nuestra Señora de la Mayor'' (16th century), with a Romanesque portal * ''Iglesia del Espino'' (16th century) * San Juan de Duero with its 12th century ruined cloisters located on the other side of the river from the old town. * The sanctuaries of ''Ermita de San Saturio'' (18th century) and ''Ermita de la Soledad'' (17th century). * The '' Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Mirón'' (Hermitage of Our Lady of Miron), with a baroque/rococo interior, founded - according to legend - by Theodemar in the sixth century. Since September 2009 the building has been used by a

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...

parish. ; Other * The Renaissance ''Ayuntamiento'' (Town Hall, 16th century), in the ''Plaza Mayor'' (main square) * ''Palacio de la Audiencia'' (theatre), from 1739 * '' Palacio de los condes de Gomara'' (Judiciary Palace, 1592) * remains of the medieval castle, commanding the town from the eponymous hill, and of the walls * The Church of San Nicolás de Soria (

: ''Iglesia de San Nicolás'') is a ruined remnant of a Romanesque-style church. It was declared ''

Bien de Interés Cultural (, , , ) is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Colombia and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" ("goods" in the economic sense). It includes not only mater ...

'' in 1962. * Aduana Vieja street, with its rennaissance noble houses: the Palace of the Castejones, the Palace of Don Diego Solier and the

Palace of the Viscounts of Eza A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

. A few kilometres north of the town are the ruins of

, a Celtiberian town whose inhabitants destroyed it rather than let it fall to Scipio. In Soria is the ''Museo Numantino'', devoted to the archaeological remains of this and other sites in the province.

Transportation

The city is served by the Soria Railway Station, with daily services to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

via

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

. There are also many bus lines to neighbouring cities. A new highway has reduced the trip to Madrid by car down to 2 hours.

Geography

Soria sits on the banks of Douro river, in its upper course. Its municipality is formed by the city, and four rural hamlets: Las Casas, Oteruelos, Pedrajas and Toledillo; both Oteruelos and Pedrajas were small municipalities later absorbed by Soria by the 1970s. The shape of the municipality is highly irregular and it is not even continuous, as it comprises three disjointed areas.

Climate

Soria has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Cfb''). Due to its altitude, winters in Soria are very cold by Spanish standards ( in January) with almost 84 frost days per year. Summers are dry and warm (average in July) with the daytime temperature usually around . Temperatures above are not rare in summer, while lows can go under at nights. It has scant rainfall () and spring is the wettest season. The low rainfall is in spite of its high elevation as the maritime

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

low-pressure systems are often blocked by the mountains closer to the coast. It is the coldest Spanish provincial capital.

Sport

The city's professional

club is called

. Two of Spain's foremost runners of the late 20th century lived and trained in Soria:

Fermín Cacho Fermín Cacho Ruiz (born 16 February 1969) is a Spanish track and field athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 1500m at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the silver medal in the 1500m at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Born in ...

, a gold medallist at the

1992 Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

, and

Abel Antón Abel Antón Rodrigo (born 24 October 1962 in Ojuel, Cabrejas del Campo, Soria) is a Spanish former long-distance runner on the track and road. Anton won back-to-back world championships in the marathon in 1997 and 1999. He was a sena ...

, a two-time World Champion in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

. The area in which they trained, Monte Valonsadero, is now host to the annual Cross Internacional de Soria meeting – one of Spain's most prestigious

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

competitions.Historia del Cross Internacional de Soria
. ANOC. Retrieved on 2009-11-29. The European Youth Orienteering Championships were held in Soria in July 2010.

Economy

Municipal services

Soria has a biomass district heating plant called ''Red de Calor de Soria'', which uses woodchip residue fuel from the local timber industry. Venture capital firm AXIS, part of Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), the Spanish promotional bank, has made an equity investment in the project. The project plans to provide 80 GWh of renewable energy per year, which will heat 8,000 homes, saving 28,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Twin towns

* 1994 — Collioure (France)

Notable people

* Saint Saturius of Soria * Javier Modrego *

Shem Tov ben Abraham ibn Gaon Shem Tov ben Abraham ibn Gaon (; 1283 – c. 1330) was a Spanish Talmudist and kabbalist. Biography Shem Tov was born at Soria, Spain. From his genealogy given in the preface to his ''Keter Shem Tov'', Azulai concluded that "Gaon" must have b ...

(1283 – c. 1330), a Jewish

Talmudist The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

and kabbalist

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *

Sources and external links

A scientific study of a fire-walking ritual
from

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

's The Daily Planet Show
GCatholic
{{Authority control Municipalities in the Province of Soria