History
The origin of the town can be traced to the Romans and the presence of hot springs called the Burgas. These can still be seen today. There was also the need to fortify the place to protect one of the easiest ways to cross the Miño River. After the Romans, Ourense was part of the Suebi (Suevi) kingdom during most of the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries and was destroyed by the Moors in 716. It was later rebuilt by Alfonso III of Asturias about 877. The Norse invasions as well as attacks from the Arab warlord Al-Mansur once more laid the city to waste. It was only under Sancho II and his sister Doña Elvira that the city was resettled during 11th century. The definitive urban impulse did not arrive until the 12th century when Ourense became an important center of services. In the 19th century, buildings started to appear in an irresponsible way in Ourense. Architects built them in different heights and lengths in a same street. This made the streets of the city be narrow, unorganized and quite ugly. Recently the city has made many projects to fix the damage. New parks, bridges, fountains, rotaries... have been built to make the city a bit more beautiful and attractive.
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