Pintia

Pintia is the name of an ancient city of the Vaccaei, situated in the area around Padilla de Duero, in the modern province of Valladolid, central Spain.

The Vaccaei or Vacceans were the first sedentary occupants of the valley between the Duero and Pisuerga rivers, in an area that would include the modern province of Valladolid, a good part of the province of the Palencia, and sections of the Zamora, Segovia, and Ávila provinces.

The Vacceans were an early Celtic society in northern Europe that arrived in this area during a period of growth. They founded various cities (Pallantia, Pintia) that had almost independent governments as city-states but maintained relations with their sister sisters in the surrounding area. Such was the sisterhood of these cities that the Vacceans helped the Arevaci of Numancia during the Roman siege. Because of their assistance to the Arevaci, the Roman invaders conquered the Vaccean cities after they had been victorious at Numancia.

Pintia was besieged and destroyed by the Romans, which also buried forever the Vaccean culture, religion, and language.

Years ago, it was believed that Valladolid was the ancient Pintia, but neither the location nor the archaeology supported this belief. The archaeological excavations conducted in Padilla de Duero uncovered an important settlement that has been interpreted as its possible location.

The Archaeological Zone consists of three different parts: the city of Las Quintanas, the necropolis of Las Ruedas, and the potter's district of Carralaceña. In the city of Las Quintanas they have discovered that the city was destroyed by a fire, after which the Visigoths of the area placed their necropolis near the ancient Vacceo-Roman city. In the necropolis of Las Ruedas they have encountered rich burials of elderly soldiers.

Text adapted from “Pintia” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Pintia ranks #5,253 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #242 of the 602 mapped in Spain. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Segovia, 75 km away. See how Spain compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗