It is not clear where the name of Zamora comes from, but of all the different origins, the Arabian is the coolest, for sure: Zamora would come from the name samurah which apparently refers to the turquoise or similar precious stone.
read more
It is not clear where the name of Zamora comes from, but of all the different origins, the Arabian is the coolest, for sure: Zamora would come from the name samurah which apparently refers to the turquoise or similar precious stone.
One thing it’s quite clear, and that is that the Arabs were around here, but they had to wait for their turn because many people preceded them in this latitudes. The Vacceos occupied the area peacefully until the Roman legions arrived with their festivities program. Festivities which were alienated by a Lusitanian leader called Viriatus, who they were unable to subdue until they bribed his lieutenants only to tell them after that: “Rome does not pay traitors”. A nice way to be upright and save a few coins at the same time.
The city then saw Swabians and Visigoths pass, and then yes, the time came for the Muslims, who took over the place, lost it, recovered it and lost it again.
A little later, better times would come for Zamora: King Fernando I promoted his repopulation, built huge city walls and then wrapped it up as a gift to leave in his will to his daughter Urraca. But what happened was that Sancho, the oldest of the children, did not agree with the distribution of the immense paternal dominions and decided to declare war on his siblings.
The ambitious firstborn managed to defeat and take from each of his siblings their piece of cake, and when it was Zamora’s turn, he found that those walls raised by his father were a serious problem. Very serious… The siege lasted for months and months, and things were resolved by a character named Bellido Dolfos, who fixed the matter by killing Sancho after deceiving him and gaining his trust.
It was precisely in those centuries of the Late Middle Ages when in Zamora they were creating an exceptional Romanesque complex that today is one of the most important in Europe. The city has a cathedral and more than twenty churches of such style, to which are added the remains of the medieval walls to compose an impressive monumental legacy.
