History
Castro Urdiales was originally called Portus Amanus, and was the chief city of the Autrigones. In AD 74 a Roman colony was established under the name Flaviobriga, during the reign of emperor Vespasian. It was most likely established to mine the abundant iron in the area.
In 1163 the town of Castro Urdiales received its municipal charter. Castro Urdiales benefited much from trade with northern Europe and Castile.
It was destroyed by the French in 1813, but was speedily rebuilt and fortified. Its rapid rise in population and prosperity dates from the increased development of iron-mining and railway communication which took place after 1879.
Read more about this topic: Castro Urdiales
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“the future is simply nothing at all. Nothing has happened to the present by becoming past except that fresh slices of existence have been added to the total history of the world. The past is thus as real as the present.”
—Charlie Dunbar Broad (1887–1971)
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“The history of our era is the nauseating and repulsive history of the crucifixion of the procreative body for the glorification of the spirit.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)