Coria, small market town and trade center in the province of Cáceres in western Spain. Coria is located 247 km (153 mi) southwest of Madrid. It is an episcopal see in the archbishopric of Toledo. Decaying walls marked by four gates enclose the old part of the town. Coria also has a castle, of which only a part remains, and a Gothic cathedral, which was begun in 1108.
The Romans called the place Caurium. After a period of decay its splendor revived under the Moors, who called it al-Karika. For a time the town was the capital of a small Muslim state. From the 9th to the 12th century Coria changed hands between Arabs and Christians, coming finally under the control of the king of Castile, Alfonso VIII, who ruled from 1158 to 1214. Population (1998 estimate) 11,811.
