In ancient times the city, named
Iltrida and
Ilerda, was the chief city of the
Ilergetes, an
Iberian tribe.
Indíbil, king of the Ilergetes, and Mandoni, king of the Ausetanes, defended it against the Carthaginian and Roman invasions. Under the Romans the city was incorporated into the Roman province of
Hispania Tarraconensis, and was a place of considerable importance, historically as well as geographically. It stood upon an eminence, on the right (west) bank of the river Sicoris (the modern
Segre), the principal tributary of the
Ebre, and some distance above its confluence with the Cinga (modern
Cinca); thus commanding the country between those rivers, as well as the great road from Tarraco (modern
Tarragona), the provincial capital, to the northwest of Spain, which here crossed the Sicoris. Its situation induced the legates of
Pompey in Spain to make it the key of their defense against
Caesar, in the first year of the
Civil War (49 BC).
Afranius and
Marcus Petreius threw themselves into the place with five legions; and their siege by Caesar himself (
Battle of Ilerda), as narrated in his own words, forms one of the most interesting passages of military history. Caesar's skill as a general, in a contest where the formation of the district and a series of natural events seemed very favorable to his enemies, ultimately gained him victory. It was ended by the capitulation of Afranius and Petreius. In consequence of the battle, the
Latin phrase Ilerdam videas is said to have been used by people who wanted to cast bad luck on someone else. Under the
Roman Empire Ilerda was a prosperous city and a
municipium. It minted its own coins. It had a fine stone bridge over the Sicoris, which was so sturdy that its foundations support a bridge to this day. In the time of
Ausonius the city had fallen into decay but it rose again into importance in the Middle Ages. It was part of
Visigothic and
Muslim Hispania until it was
conquered from the Moors by Count
Ramon Berenguer IV of
Barcelona in 1149. It used to be the seat of a
major university, the oldest in the
Crown of Aragon, until 1717, when it was moved by
Philip V to the nearby town of
Cervera. The
University of Lleida is nowadays active again since 1991. During the
Reapers' War Lleida was occupied by the French and rebel forces. In 1644 the city was conquered by the Spanish under
Felipe da Silva. Lleida served as a key defence point for
Barcelona during the
Spanish Civil War and fell to the
Insurgents, whose air forces bombed it extensively in 1937 and 1938. The 2 November 1937
Condor Legion attacks against Lleida became especially infamous since they targeted the school known as
Liceu Escolar de Lleida. 48 children and several teachers died in it that day, 300 people were killed in the 2 November bombings altogether and the town would be bombed and besieged again in 1938, when it was conquered by
Francisco Franco's forces. After some decades without any kind of population growth it experienced a massive influx of
Andalusians, who helped the town undergo a relative demographic growth. Nowadays it is home to immigrants of 146 different nationalities. Lleida was the Capital of Catalan Culture in 2007.
Jewish History The
Juderia, or Jewish quarter in Lleida dates back to the 11th century. The Jewish quarter in Lleida was also referred to as La Cuirassa. This name distinction is unique compared to other Jewish communities in Spain, and historians believe that the origin of the term is linked to the former Jewish quarter that existed in the times of the Moors, which was connected to the "coiraça", a protrusion of the city wall. The Jews established their quarter next to this wall, leading to the name "La Cuirassa." A street named "Judería", which still exists in today's Lleida dates back to the time where the Jewish quarter was still active. The Jewish quarter was located in the fortified area of Lleida; in this area, a ring with the name "Goig" carved in
Hebrew was found in 1870. A Jewish ritual bath, or
mikveh dating to the 9th century, one of the oldest in Europe, was found in Lleida. ==Climate==