Toro, Zamora

Toro is a town and municipality in the province of Zamora, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is located on a fertile high plain, northwest of Madrid at an elevation of 740 metres (2,430 ft).

Toro is known as a center of Mudéjar art and as a wine-producing region. It is located on the Duero River roughly half way between Zamora, the provincial capital and Tordesillas in the province of Valladolid. The four-lane freeway (autovía) A-11 now connects these two cities and passes just north of Toro. Highway N122 passes through the town. The distance to Madrid by highway is 220 km (137 mi). Distances to other cities are: 32 km (20 mi) to Zamora, 62 km (39 mi) to Valladolid and 72 km (45 mi) to Salamanca.

History

Antiquity

Toro is an ancient town, possibly the Arbukala of the Vaccai tribe which was conquered by Hannibal in 220 BC but survived to trouble the Romans. The Roman town was called Albucella. The modern name may derive from the bull totem of that Celtiberian people. In the 8th century it was conquered by the Moors. After the Muslims had been partially rolled back, Alfonso III repopulated the town in about 910.