The town, at 1137 meters altitude, is near the watershed of the Duero, the Ebro and the Tagus, on the old Roman road between Berlanga and Medinaceli. Its castle dates to pre-Roman times, and was the site of a major battle of the reconquest in 975.
The word Barahona is believed to be of ancient Iberian origin, coming from the Basque bara + ona = forest or mountain + good. The name is first documented in the diocese of Calahorra in 1257, although some argue that the Poem of the Cid is of an earlier date than this.
Barahona was known as the "town of the witches" due to a major persecution there by the Inquisition in 1527. The adjacent countryside is littered with Roman and Celto-iberian sites, so it is not surprising that pagan customs would have survived well into Christian times. Barahona is located in the old Roman road running from Ocilis to Uxama, which passed through Medinaceli, Romanillos, Barahona, Bordecorex and Berlanga, before finally crossing the Duero at Vadorrey. In 1916 excavations near Barahona uncovered a Celtic necropolis with over three hundred tombs and traces of a Roman garrison. The castle of Barahona has for centuries yielded Roman artifacts and inscriptions, and Celtiberian pottery.
Barahona was the site of a major battle during the reconquest. In 975, Count Garcia, Sancho of Navarre and Ramiro of Leon invested Gormaz. Galib, the Vizir of the Ummayad Caliph Al-Hakam II al-Mustansir, moved against them, making camp at Barahona on 22 April 975. After consolidating stragglers, Galib moved towards Berlanga and Recuerda to raise the siege. Fighting continued until 22 May, ending with a Muslim victory.
Latitude: 41.29797. Longitude: -2.65721.
They went on by Valdespino, and by Parra, and Berrocal, and Val de Endrinas, and they left Medina Celi on the right, and crost the plain of Barahona, and past near Berlanga; and they crost the Douro by a ford below the town, and rode on and came into the Oak-wood of Corpes.