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What to see and do in Gormaz

What to see and do in Gormaz (Tierras del Burgo, Soria): 3 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 1 Historical milestones

Towns near Gormaz

Spain › Castile and León › Soria › Tierras del Burgo › Gormaz

What to see and do in Gormaz

Gormaz
Village
Gormaz is a hamlet of 18 inhabitants that rises beneath what was the largest fortress in the Europe of its time: the caliphal castle that General Galib had rebuilt between 955 and 966 to reinforce Medinaceli, with a walled perimeter of 1200 metres and 28 towers that controlled a route of access to the north and to the Duero valley. The village's name comes from Vormatio or Bormatiu, in reference to the Ligurian god of springs Borbo-Bormanus. On the hill there are remains of a Celtic hillfort predating the castle, and at La Requijada a pre-Roman necropolis from the 4th century BC with close to 1200 graves. Below, an eighteen-arch Roman bridge, rebuilt by the Arabs and again in 1864, crosses the Duero; nearby stands the hermitage of San Miguel, which may already have been a church in the 6th century.
The caliphal fortress of Gormaz
Monument
Rebuilt around 965 by the general Galib in the service of Caliph al-Hakam II, it was at the time the largest caliphal fortress in Europe. Its walls comprise twenty-eight solid towers with battlements and arrow slits, standing on a spur above the Duero.
Córdoba's bridgehead against Castile
Historical milestone
For two centuries the fortress of Gormaz was Córdoba's forward base against the County of Castile and changed hands repeatedly; the general Galib rebuilt it between 955 and 966 as the largest caliphal fortress in Europe, with 1,200 meters of wall and 28 towers.