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  Shown within Spain  Reccopolis (Castilla-La Mancha)  Reccopolis (Province of Guadalajara) | |
| Location | Zorita de los Canes, Province of Guadalajara, Castilla–La Mancha, Spain |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°19′19″N 2°53′33″W / 40.32194°N 2.89250°W |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | 578 |
| Abandoned | 9th century |
| Periods | Early Middle Ages |
Reccopolis (Spanish: Recópolis; Latin: Reccopolis), is an archaeological site located near Zorita de los Canes, a small village in the province of Guadalajara, Spain. It represents one of the Visigoth cities founded in Iberia during the post-Roman period.[1]
Established by Visigothic king Liuvigild, who ruled Iberia in 568–86 AD, Reccopolis is one of only two cities in Western Europe known to have been founded between the fifth and eighth centuries.[2] Its remains serve as a case study for understanding the ideas and ideals of a city in Late Antiquity, reflecting influences from classical Roman models.[3]
Discovered in the 1890s, the site underwent archaeological excavations starting in the 1940s under Juan Cabré, with ongoing efforts revealing the monumental area within the walled enclosure. Notable remains include an aqueduct located 2 km to the east, recognized as the first new, urban aqueduct in the Iberian Peninsula in two centuries and the last built in the Roman way.
- ^ According to E. A Thompson, "The Barbarian Kingdoms in Gaul and Spain", Nottingham Mediaeval Studies, 7 (1963:4n11), the others were (i) Victoriacum, founded by Leovigild and may survive as the city of Vitoria, but a twelfth-century foundation for this city is given in contemporary sources, (ii) Lugo id est Luceo in the Asturias, referred to by Isidore of Seville, and (iii) Ologicus (perhaps Ologitis), founded using Basque labour in 621 by Suinthila as a fortification against the Basques, is modern Olite. All of these cities were founded for military purposes and at least Reccopolis, Victoriacum, and Ologicus in celebration of victory. A possible fifth Visigothic foundation is Baiyara (perhaps modern Montoro), mentioned as founded by Reccared in the fifteenth-century geographical account, Kitab al-Rawd al-Mitar, cf. José María Lacarra, "Panorama de la historia urbana en la Península Ibérica desde el siglo V al X," La città nell'alto medioevo, 6 (1958:319–358). Reprinted in Estudios de alta edad media española (Valencia: 1975), pp25–90.
- ^ GRIG, LUCY (19 March 2013). "Cities in the 'long' Late Antiquity, 2000–2012 – a survey essay". Urban History. 40 (3): 554–566. doi:10.1017/s0963926813000369. ISSN 0963-9268.
- ^ Jiménez, Javier Martínez; Herráiz, Joaquín Checa (June 2023). "The water cycle in Reccopolis". Journal of Roman Archaeology. 36 (1): 157–185. doi:10.1017/S104775942300020X. hdl:10481/83829. ISSN 1047-7594.