Roman times the Vía de la Plata crossed the Duero at this point. With the Germanic invasions, Zamora became a Visigoth territory, only later to fall under Muslim domination. The famous saying "No se ganó Zamora en una hora" (Zamora wasn´t won in one hour) refers to the long drawnout siege the city suffered in the Middle Ages. The city´s old part, listed as an Artistic-Historic Ensemble, still conserves three chunks of the wall that once safeguarded it, as well as the castle and many churches, palaces and narrow cobbled streets.

The city has a score of Romanesque churches but it is the cathedral that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Its most prominent feature is dome of Byzantine influence perched over the crossing. The Puerta del Obispo on its south-facing front is one of the most beautifully decorated Romanesque church doors. Inside, the Cathedral Museum has excellent artworks from all eras. Next to the cathedral sits the Iglesia de San Claudio, also of the twelfth century. Nearby is the small Iglesia de Santiago el Viejo. Legend has it that Cid Campeador was knighted in this church. Other churches of the old part of the city are the Iglesia de San Isidoro, the Iglesia de San Pedro and the Iglesia de San Ildefonso. The Iglesia de la Magdalena, from the last third of the twelfth century, has the richest ornamentation of all Zamora´s Romanesque churches.

The two streets called Rúa de los Francos and Rúa de los Notarios contain the city´s most characteristic sights. The most important of the civil buildings are the seventeenth-century Hospital de la Encarnación, the Palacio de los Condes de Alba y Aliste, today run as a Parador Nacionaland the early sixteenth-century Palacio del Cordón. The only surviving remains of the Castillo de Zamora are the castle´s moat, the entrance gate and keep. The Casa del Cid, the oldest part dating from the eleventh century, is worth more than a fleeting visit. The Plaza Mayor is home to the Iglesia de San Juan, from the mid twelfth century and, standing opposite, the old City Hall.

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