Soria

Soria stands on the Duero in the high country of Castile. Its position near the medieval frontiers of Castile, Navarre and Aragon made it a strategic settlement. Repopulated under Alfonso I of Aragon, it received a charter in 1120 and passed under Alfonso VII after 1134. Soria prospered in the later Middle Ages through its frontier position and livestock economy. Its walls, Romanesque churches and later Renaissance houses reflect the town's long history. The union of Castile and Aragon changed its strategic importance, and the expulsion of Jews in 1492 also affected the town. During the War of the Spanish Succession it supported Philip V; in 1808 French troops captured and burned it during the Peninsular War.