The Land

The Vega Baja is an area of near level land covering over 50 hectares to the north of Toledo’s old quarter. It is cut off in the west by the Tagus River, and in the north and east, by hills that surround the city there. There are excellent views towards it from the city, and the line of vision across indicates an exit route probably taken by the old Roman road to Emerita Augusta (modern-day Mérida). The river terraces rich in detritus has made the terrain ideal for farming crops and keeping livestock, and for human settlement too because of its proximity to the river. Flowing from east to west, this traces a large V shape whose base in the south encloses the hill of the historic city as we know it, and which opens out into the plain of the Vega Baja in the north.

Human habitation here dates from the Bronze Age, when settlement appears to have been temporary. Excavation of the Roman circus has shown that the area might have been a centre of trade and public activity before the 1^st century AD.