The area which stretches from the Guadarrama and Gredos mountains to the Sierra Morena has formed a coherent unit throughout history, a unit defined by certain common features in the occupation of the land and ways of living based on those features. However, one of the most important defining characteristics of Castile has been its historical status as a land of transit. In the pre-Roman era, when it was inhabited by Carpetani and Vetoni, it was mainly an area of pasture; the Roman occupation gave rise to large-scale farms. These Roman latifundia were passed on without any obvious break to the great Visigoth families, and later to the Muslims; it was not until the Reconquest that this pattern was broken in favour of agriculture.

However, if there is one enclave which has obtained historical renown over the centuries in this land, it must without any doubt be Toledo. Intensely Romanized at first, it became the Visigoth capital and one of the symbols of the history of Spain with wide-ranging influence until it was retaken by the Christians in the year 1085.