Coca, Segovia
Encyclopedia
Coca is a municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the province of Segovia
Segovia (province)
Segovia is a province of central/northern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Burgos, Soria, Guadalajara, Madrid, Ávila, and Valladolid....

, central Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile-Leon. It is located 50 kilometres northwest of the provincial capital city of Segovia
Segovia
Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...

, and 60 kilometres from Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...

. Coca is known for its 15th Century Mudéjar
Mudéjar
Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...

 castle. The town had a population of 2,131 in 2009.

History

The Romans founded the city of Cauca, as it is known in classical texts, on the site. It became a provincial city during the 2nd century A.D.

The Roman Emperor Flavius Theodosius (Theodosius I
Theodosius I
Theodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...

), was born in Cauca around 346 A.D. The son of a senior Roman army officer, he made Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire and was the last ruler of a united Empire. After his death in Milan in 395 A.D., the Roman Empire was divided between his heirs and was never reunited.

Construction ended on the Castillo de Coca, the impressive castle in the middle of the town, in 1453. The castle, belonging to the House of Alba
House of Alba
The House of Alba is an important Spanish aristocratic family who derive from the 12th century Mozarab nobility of post-conquest Toledo. Their claim to Alba traces to 1429, when the first Álvarez de Toledo was made Lord of the City of Alba de Tormes...

, now serves as a tourist attraction, having been listed as a historical site by the government since 1931.

Economy

The town is surrounded by a pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

forest, which primarily contributes to the town's economy.
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