Cáparra

The Roman city of Cáparra[2] is located in the north of Extremadura (Spain) in the valley of the River Alagón.

In Roman times it was in the province of Lusitania within the Conventus Iuridicus Emeritensis, whose capital was Colonia Augusta Emerita (modern day Mérida).

The city was smaller and less important than some other Roman cities of the Iberian Peninsula, but was among the main population centres between the Tagus river and the Sierra de Gredos, along with Caurium (Coria), Augustobriga (Talavera la Vieja) and Egitania (Idanha-a-Velha).

Its urban organisation corresponds to an orthogonal plan, with the Vía de la Plata as the principal axis, passing through the city in a north-south direction.

Possibly its significance derives from those roots which could indicate a centre for exchange, bartar, and trade, inasmuch as the position of Cáparra is at the meeting of two roads, one leading to El Jerte through the Puerto de San Gamello and the other to the Roman bridges over the Ambroz and the Pontoon in the Alagón.