ASTORGA CIVITAS

Astorga has been selected by Roberto Amati in relation to the real history of european integration, then enlisted in the CITY OR CIVITAS category, accompanied by own fact SHEET useful to the comprehension, completed of historical MAPS AND IMAGES or with a direct linking to the related Blog contents dedicated to the entire history of european integration and the future of Europe.

Astorga is one of the most ancient cities of the history of European integration, signed in great part by Christianity. The Civitas Astorga was founded in 14 BC by Romans, near the river Douro and a rich gold mine in the Cantabria region, on the site of a Castra built by Legio X Gemina to fight the local Celts people, submitted to Roman power and first inhabitants of the civitas. At the end of the Cantabrian war, Astorga was connected to the civitas of Limoges and Bordeaux by the Asturica Burdigalam way.

Within the reform of Augustus (see Roman Empire), Astorga was part of the Hispania Tarraconensis province and obtained the building of many public houses and services, then connected to the rest of Iberian Peninsula, through the Delapidata way reaching Merida and the Mediterranean Sea, and by the Lusitanorum way running all along the Portugal coasts. With the reform of Constantine I (see Christian Empire), Astorga became the seat of an imperial bishopric known as Catholic Diocesis of Astorga (with a specific old title still existing!) that operated the evangelization of northern Iberians people.

At the falling of Western Roman Empire, the city was included in the Visigoths Reign and involved in the fight against the Arian and Priscillianism eresy, then persecuted by the Catholics Church of Rome and destroyed by Visigoths, then quite abandoned at ending of 5th century AD: after the Arabs conquer, that zone called "The Desert of the Duero" was contented with the kingdom of Asturias and obejct of the "Reboplaciòn" effort taken by the asturian kings of the Perez family: the decadence of the city ended in 11th century when it became a major stop on the "Saint James walking" towards Santiago the Compostela, now the tomb of the Apostle Jacob "the elder". Among the new citizens there were Jewish, living in the fortified section of Astorga as early as that period and inhabitants of the street called "the Paseo of the Synagogue", but mainly forcibly converted to Christianity and persecuted during the Middle Age, however their community had privileges exempting from payment of crown taxes before the expulsion of the Jewish from the Spain Kingdom in 1492.

Near Astorga is seated the monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana" enlisted in the UNESCO Wordl Heritage: founded in the 6th century to hold the Lignum Crucis coming from Jerusalem, still today venerated as a Jesus Christ relic, the monastir is one of the six place in the world with the privilege of issuing perpetual indulgences to pilgrims. Astorga is a medium size town in the north-west of Spain, within the Castile and Leòn autonomous community, whose patron is Saint Turibius of Astorga, one of the first bishops who brought the Jesus relic to the monastir.

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