Viguera

History

The earliest documentary evidence is in the Berber historian Ajbar Machmua, who told that Abd ar-Rahman I recovered La Rioja in 759, after it having been conquered by Alfonso I of Asturias in 755. He commented in particular that after taking Viguera Castle, Abd ar-Rahman I crossed all of La Rioja and penetrated Álava. It was one of the fortifications that the Banu Qasi used to defend La Rioja from the Christians. In the second half of the ninth century, Lubb ibn Musa, one of the sons of Musa ibn Musa al-Qasawi, reconstructed the fortress. Lubb died hunting deer and was buried in the location. Upon Christian reconquest, it became the site of the Kingdom of Viguera (970-1005). At the end of this period, it became part of the Kingdom of Navarre, although later the area passed into the hand of the nobles of Cameros, as part of their feudal territory.