The Capital - lleida
A city of northeast Spain west of Barcelona. Julius Caesar defeated Pompey's generals here in 49
B.C. During the Spanish Civil War it was a key defense point for Barcelona but fell to the Nationalists (April 1938) after a nine-month battle.
The ancient Ilerda, it was taken (49
B.C.) by Julius Caesar, who defeated Pompey's generals there. Lleida fell to the Moors in
A.D. 714 and was liberated (1149) by Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona. The university founded there (c.1300) by James II of Aragón was discontinued in 1717. Traditionally a strategic, fortified city, Lleida was a key defense point for Barcelona in the Spanish civil war; it fell (Apr., 1938) after a nine-month battle. The old section of the city is dominated by the castle, whose ramparts enclose a Romanesque cathedral.