Ciudad Rodrigo - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

CIUDAD RODRIGO, a town of western Spain, in the province of Salamanca, situated 8 m. E. of the Portuguese frontier, on the right bank of the river Agueda, and the railway from Salamanca to Coimbra in Portugal. Pop. (1900) 8930. Ciudad Rodrigo is an episcopal see, and was for many centuries an important frontier fortress. Its cathedral dates from 1190, but was restored in the 15th century. The remnants of a Roman aqueduct, the foundations of a bridge across the Agueda, and other remains, seem to show that Ciudad Rodrigo occupies the site of a Roman settlement. It was founded in the I 2th century by Count Rodrigo Gonzalez, from whom its name is derived. During the Peninsular War, it was captured by the French under Marshal Ney, in 1810; but on the 19th of January 1812 it was retaken by the British under Viscount Wellington, who, for this exploit, was created earl of Wellington, duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, and marquess of Torres Vedras, in Portugal.