Azuaga

Azuaga is a town located in the province of Badajoz in southern Extremadura, bordering the Andalusian provinces of Seville and Córdoba in Spain. Azuga is 140 km from Badajoz, 125 km from Córdoba, and 140 km from Seville, in the foothills of Sierra Morena in the frontier region of Campiña Sur.With an surface of 498 km², Azuaga is the fourth largest municipality by area in the province of Badajoz and includes the village of the Cardenchosa. The inhabitants in 2010 were 8303.HistoryAncient eraAzuaga has archeological remains from the Megalithic era, the Copper Age, Bronze Age, and also from the Orientalizing Period.In the period of the Roman Empire, Azuaga was part of the province of Lusitania, known variously as Municipium Flavium Ugultuniacum, Municipium Iulium V, or Julia Flavia. Its inhabitants were of the Galeria tribe (Latin tribu Galeria). Local remains from the era include two stone tablets with inscriptions.There are few remains from the Visigothic era.Middle AgesWhen Spain fell into Moorish hands, Azuaga underwent a period of growth. Among the historicas evidence of Moorish Azuaga, the Muslim geographer and traveler Al Idrisi mentions the settlement in the 12th century, alluding to it as a hilltop fort - (حِصْن زُوَاغَة - HiSn Zuwāghah). This is the first writing that mentions Azuaga by name. It would appear that at that time the people of Azuaga were of the Berber tribe Al-Zuwaga, hence the name. Azuaga still has a surviving portion of its 11th-century castle.