Toro | |
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  Toro Location in Spain Show map of Spain Toro Toro (Castile and León) Show map of Castile and León | |
| Coordinates:41°31′32″N5°23′28″W / 41.52556°N 5.39111°W /41.52556; -5.39111 | |
| Country |  Spain |
| Autonomous community |  Castile and León |
| Province |  Zamora |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Tomás del Bien Sánchez (PSOE) |
| Area | |
• Total | 326 km2 (126 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 740 m (2,430 ft) |
| Population (2024-01-01)[1] | |
• Total | 8,369 |
| • Density | 25.7/km2 (66.5/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Toresanos |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 49800 |
| Dialing code | 980 |
| Website | Official website |
Toro is a town andmunicipality in theprovince ofZamora, part of theautonomous community ofCastile and León, Spain. The town is located on a escarpment off the right bank of theDouro, at an elevation of 740 metres (2,430 ft).
Toro is known as a center ofMudéjar art and as awine-producing region. It is located roughly halfway betweenZamora, the provincial capital andTordesillas in the province ofValladolid. 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) toSalamanca.
Toro is an ancient town, possibly theArbukala of the Vaccai tribe which was conquered byHannibal in 220 BC but survived to trouble theRomans. The Roman town was calledAlbucella. The modern name may derive from the bull totem of thatCeltiberian people. In the 8th century it wasconquered by the Moors. After the Muslims had been partially rolled back,Alfonso III repopulated the town in about 910.
Ferdinand III was crowned King ofLeón in Toro in 1230 and his wifeElisabeth of Hohenstaufen (Beatriz) died here.Enrique II, first of theTrastámara line, summoned his firstCortes here in 1369.Juan II of Castile was born here in 1404, but the town was to have greater significance for his daughterIsabella I of Castile.
Isabella (married with Ferdinand) had a rival for the succession inJuana la Beltraneja, supposedly the daughter of her half-brotherEnrique IV, but allegedly the daughter of the queen's lover, the courtierBeltrán de la Cueva. La Beltraneja's supporters arranged her betrothal toAlfonso V of Portugal who was feeling upset over his earlier rejection by Isabella.
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Alfonso invadedCastile in May 1475, backed by a number of dissident Castilian nobles. Isabella madeTordesillas her headquarters, while Ferdinand moved to secure the loyalty ofSalamanca, Toro, andZamora. Alfonso reachedArévalo in July and both Zamora and Toro went over to him, a serious blow for the young monarchs.
Intrigue seethed as troops marched. Zamora swung back to Isabella's cause. The Portuguese crown prince arrived with reinforcements and on March 1, 1476, the rival armies met atPeleagonzalo, a few kilometres southwest of Toro. Ferdinand was victorious in this battle decided by light cavalry. The Portuguese under Alfonso broke and the king took refuge inCastronuño. However, the result was uncertain[2][3] since the forces under the Portuguese crown prince defeated the Castilian right wing and remained in possession of the battle field - and thus both sides claimed victory. But the fortress of Zamora surrendered to Ferdinand soon thereafter (March 19, 1476) while Toro remained in Portuguese hands during more than half a year (until September 19, 1476). After that Alfonso gave up the fight and la Beltraneja retired to aLisbon convent where she died in 1530, aged sixty-eight.
In January 1506, after Isabella's death, Ferdinand summoned a Cortes at Toro. Isabella's legal successors in Castile were her daughterJoanna the Mad and her husbandPhilip the Handsome, who at the time stayed in the Netherlands. The Cortes took the oath to Ferdinand as temporary ruler and agreed that if Juana be deemed incurably ill, he should become regent. Ferdinand and Philip later seized power from Juana. After Philip's death in September 1506, Ferdinand had himself declared regent and Juana retired toTordesillas.
When in 1520 the towns ofCastile, theComuneros, rose against her sonCharles I, who had succeeded his Spanish grandfather in 1516, Toro sided with them. Charles defeated the Comuneros atVillalar de los Comuneros, east of Toro, the next year.
During thePeninsular War, in the bitter cold of December 1808,Sir John Moore began his retreat from Toro in the face of superior French forces. The ghastly ordeal ended in Moore's death beforeA Coruña (Galicia) in January. In May 1813, 100,000 British troops gathered in Toro underWellington's command and from here Wellington launched the final campaign which expelledNapoleon's armies from Spanish soil after five terrible years.
English travellerRichard Ford (English writer) visited Toro in 1831 and reported a population of 9,000; it has just under 10,000 now. In 1838 it lost its status as a provincial capital, its province being merged with Zamora.
The town of Toro is built in the shape of a fan, in whose center stands theCollegiate church of Santa María la Mayor, dating to the 12th century. Outstanding on the outside is the polychrome western door, called; and on the inside, the famousFlemish paintingLa Virgen de la Mosca ("Virgin of the Fly") and an unusual pregnant Virgin.
Next to the collegiate church is theEspolón viewing point, which offers views of a fertile plain known as the "oasis of Castile."
The town also has the remains of a wall from 910 AD; and the gates ofCorredera and Santa Catalina, from the 17th and 18th centuries. Noteworthy civic buildings include the façade of the Law Palace, the City Hall, and the palaces of theCounts of Requena, the Marquis ofAlcañices or the Marquis ofCastrillo. Among the ecclesiastical buildings are the churches ofSan Lorenzo el Real, inMudéjar style;San Salvador de los Caballeros, which contains a Museum of Religious Art;San Sebastián, and the monasteries of Sancti Spiritus, Santa Clara and Santa Sofía.
Toro has been long famous for its wine (Toro (DO)). The Toro wines were so prestigious that King Alfonso IX of León conceded privileges for its production in the 12th century. Columbus took Toro wine with him on the expedition to discover America in 1492, because it could survive large journeys, due to its structure and body. Friar Diego de Deza, from Zamora, one of Isabel the Catholic's confessors, collaborated economically in the expedition, for which he was allowed to name one of the caravels, the Pinta that was half full of Toro wine. The Designation of the Toro Region is recent, beginning in the mid 70s, under the Specific Designation (Denominación Específica), which preceded the attainment of Designated Region (Denominación de Origen) on 29 May 1987.
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