Medina de Rioseco | |||
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Nickname(s): City of the Admirals | |||
Coordinates: 41°52′59″N 5°02′34″W / 41.88306°N 5.04278°W | |||
Country | Spain | ||
Autonomous community | Castile and León | ||
Province | Valla dolid | ||
Municipality | Medina de Rioseco | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 115 km2 (44 sq mi) | ||
Elevation | 741 m (2,431 ft) | ||
Population (2012) | |||
• Total | 4,967 | ||
• Density | 43.0/km2 (111/sq mi) | ||
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
Website | www.medinaderioseco.com/ |
Medina de Rioseco is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, in the autonomous community of Castile and León and Spain. According to a 2011 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 4,967 inhabitants.
The city also has the nicknames the "City of the Admirals" and "Old India Girl."
It has an area of 115.43 square kilometres (44.6 sq mi), with a population density of 43.0 inhabitants per square kilometre (111/sq mi). It is a municipality of Tierra de Campos. The Sequillo river passes nearby.
The coat of arms shield is quartered, with two castles in gold and two horses leaning out of colored battlements on a silver background, surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves, but no crown. It was granted by King John I of Castile.
The city lies along the road of El Camino de Santiago de Madrid.
The oldest traces of Rioseco come from the Iron Age and the time of Celtic Iberia. Some ancient authors mistakenly identified this area as a Forum Egurrorum or a market square, in the Visigoths' era. Documents relating to the Tierra de Campos and Campos Gothic or Campii Gotorum date from this period. In the middle of the ninth century and throughout the tenth century, this area was a territory of colonization of the Asturian-Leonese kingdom, which also contained Mozarabic people, such as the Iberian Christians who lived under Arab Islamic rule in Al-Andalus. This perhaps led to a place name for the population: "Medina" (Arabic for "city").
The confluence of the borders between the Kingdom of León and County of Castile led to battles in this area between the two kingdoms. In 1037, Castile became the separate Kingdom of Castile. Alfonso X the Wise determined the ultimate limits with Valladolid in 1258, leaving Medina for the mountains of Torozos.