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Coria
«Coria conserva una muralla romana y un castillo medieval.»Coria preserves a Roman wall and a medieval castle.
Coria is located in the northwest of the province of Cáceres, in an area of vegetable gardens on the Alagón river. It preserves almost the entire Roman wall, which remained standing because people built houses on top of it, and a sixteenth-century bridge under which the river has not flowed for three centuries.
Did you know
A tablecloth from the Last Supper.
The cathedral of Coria houses an ancient relic: one of the tablecloths used during Jesus' Last Supper.
How they talk in Coria
«Cauriense» is the educated demonym, derived from ancient Caurium. In the north-western area of Extremadura, linguistic influences from Leonese and Portuguese survive more strongly than in the center of the region.
acho
Hey; friend; boy, as a call or interjection. In informal speech it calls the interlocutor or introduces surprise, protest, complicity, and other reactions according to the intonation.
Everyday life in Coria
The gates of the wall are closed
The center is still closed inside the Roman walls, and for San Juan the four gates are barred: the town becomes an enclosure, and it is inside that perimeter that the party takes place.
«Cierran las puertas para San Juan.» — They close the gates for San Juan.
The cathedral suspended over the void
The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 took away the ground behind the apse, and the church remains overhanging the river: it overlooks the void from a wall thirty meters high.
The «Puente de Piedra» without a river
The 16th-century bridge is still standing, but the Alagón has changed course and passes next to it: you cross a bridge that is on dry land, and in town it is taken for granted.
What to eat in Coria
Migas extremeñas
Stale bread sautéed with garlic, bacon, and peppers.
Patatera
Soft sausage made of potatoes, lard, and paprika, which is spread on bread like a red cream.
Caldereta de cordero
Lamb stewed slowly with dried peppers, garlic, and wine.
Torta del Casar
Creamy sheep's cheese that is opened at the top and eaten with a spoon.
Festivals in Coria
Sanjuanes de Coria
from June 23rd to 29th
The four gates of the wall are closed and the bull runs free inside the town, which for a week is an enclosure.
What to see in Coria
Murallas romanas
One of the few Roman walls preserved almost entirely in Spain: you can do the complete tour on foot.
Puente de Coria
A bridge with five arches over a field: the river changed course and went away.
Catedral de Santa María
Gothic cathedral with a Plateresque facade, and the cracks from the Lisbon earthquake left visible.
Cárcel Real
The 18th-century prison, with the cells and the courtyard, turned into a museum.
Where Coria comes from
The walls are still all there
Roman era
Caurium
Roman municipality with its wall, which is the one seen today.
8th–12th century
Qūriya
Muslim border city on the Alagón, contested for three centuries.
1142
The conquest
Alfonso VII takes it definitively and brings the bishopric there.
18th century
The river goes away
The Alagón changes course and moves away from the bridge, which remains dry.
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