The origins of Ciudad Rodrigo go back to megalithic times. There are dolmens that bear witness to this in nearby villages like Pedro Toro or Gallegos de Argañán.
But the first settlers of the town were the ?vetones?, people of celtic origin, who occupied this territory in about the VI century B.C. The ?vetones? were the first to call the town Miróbriga Wettonum, and it is from here that the name of ?mirobrigenses? is derived, which is what the inhabitants of Ciudad Rodrigo are called to this day.
The Roman invasion took place in about the II century B.C. They renamed the town Augustóbriga and Civitas Augusta. From the roman age, we have conserved gravestones and coins, and above all, the Three Columns, one of the indisputable emblems of the town.
Around about the year 585 Leovigildo?s troops defeated the ?suevos?, who were occupying the region at that time, and destroyed almost all the fortresses. The history of Ciudad Rodrigo is one of innumerable destructions and reconstructions.
With the Arab invasion the area was besieged again. Alfonso I won the land of Miróbriga back from the Arabs and gave them to a French knight, Teobaldo, who repopulated the area with his people and called it Sierra de Francia. It is thought that at that time, during fights between Moorish and Christians, many religous images were hidden in the mountains. Some of them have been found along the years.
Until the reign of Alfonso VI very little is known about Miróbriga?s history because there are not many relieble references. It can only be claimed with certainty that Civitas Ausgusta never disappeared completely, in spite of the numerous invasions which it suffered. In the year 1100 the count Rodrigo González Girón started to repopulate the town again and gave it the name of Ciudad Rodrigo, which is the name used to this day. This repopulation was carried out, mainly, with people from León, Zamora, Segovia and Ávila.
However, the true repopulater of Ciudad Rodrigo is king Fernando II of León, who fortified the town with walls to defend it against the Moorish and against his father-in-law, Alfonso Enríquez of Portugal. At the same time, he brought knights from the high nobility, gave privileges to its settlers and decided to restore the episcopate, a very important chapter in Ciudad Rodrigo?s history, also ordering the building of the Cathedral.
In the XIII century, Sancho IV granted a privilege to Ciudad Rodrigo for which it is ensured forever a link between the Town and the Crown. This fact ensured that important nobility settled here. They soon got involved with continual fights for power.
The most prosperous period in Ciudad Rodrigo?s history is the one between the XV and XI centuries. This was the period during which most of the architectural jewels which are owned by the town were built, from religous monuments to palaces and castles.
In the XVII and XVIII centuries, due to the Sucession War in Portugal and the Sucession War of the Austrias, most of the town was destroyed. The same happened at the beginning of theXIX century, with the invasion of the French troops, who destroyed part of the architectural wealth of Ciudad Rodrigo.
In 1944 Ciudad Rodrigo was declared a National Heritage. There are many reasons for which it deserves this name: the City Walls, the Cathedral, Palaces, Churches, Castles...
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