Aínsa-Sobrarbe

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Aínsa municipality
Aínsa - historical center
Aínsa - historical center
coat of arms Map of Spain
Aínsa coat of arms
Aínsa-Sobrarbe (Spain)
Finland road sign 311 (1994-2020) .svg
Basic data
Autonomous Community : Aragon
Province : Huesca
Comarca : Sobrarbe
Coordinates 42 ° 25 ′  N , 0 ° 8 ′  E Coordinates: 42 ° 25 ′  N , 0 ° 8 ′  E
Height : 569  msnm
Area : 284.77 km²
Residents : 2,201 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density : 7.73 inhabitants / km²
Founding: 1981
Postal code : 22330
Municipality number  ( INE ): 22907
administration
Website : Aínsa

Aínsa-Sobrarbe , sometimes just Aínsa is one of the small town of Aínsa and several villages and hamlets (Pedanías) existing northern Spanish municipality ( municipio ) in the province of Huesca in the autonomous community of Aragon . The old town center with its large main square (Plaza Mayor) was classified as a cultural asset ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) in the conjunto histórico-artístico category.

Location and climate

Aínsa is located on a rocky hill in the southern foothills of the Pyrenees between the rivers Cinca and Ara at the northern end of a reservoir ( Embalse de Mediano ) about 100 kilometers (driving distance) northeast of Huesca . Andorra la Vella is about 220 kilometers east of Aínsa, the old episcopal city of Jaca is a good 70 kilometers to the west. The climate is temperate; Rain (approx. 660 mm / year) falls over the year.

Community structure

Population development

year 1857 1900 1950 2000 2017
Residents 415 361 662 1,595 2.128

Rural exodus as a result of the mechanization of agriculture and a reorganization of the community structure led in the last decades of the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st century to a significant population growth.

economy

Traditionally, agriculture, handicrafts and trade are of great importance for the economic life of the municipality. Tourism - especially the rental of holiday apartments - was another source of income for the municipality.

history

A legend traces the origin of the place back to a miracle of the cross in the time of the Islamic- Moorish dominance over large parts of the Iberian Peninsula , but so far no signs of the presence of Muslim culture so far in northern Spain have been discovered. Aínsa Castle dates back to the 11th century and is considered part of a Christian line of defense against attacks from the south ( Saragossa ); at that time Aínsa belonged to the kingdom of Nájera. In the 12th century it was the capital of the former county of Sobrarbe , which became part of the Kingdom of Navarre , the southern half of which was then conquered by Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, 2nd Duke of Alba in 1512 on the orders of Ferdinand of Aragon , and in the Spanish crown land was integrated.

Attractions

  • The main attraction of Ainsa is the large, elongated main square (Plaza Mayor) , which is surrounded on both sides by arcaded stone houses. The complete lack of half-timbered or wooden buildings in the entire old town is striking ; only in the ceilings of the arcades are wooden beams and boards visible.
  • Several stone houses (including the Casa de Bielsa , Casa Latorre and Casa Arnal ) date back to the 16th and 17th centuries.
  • Large parts of the 11th and 16th / 17th centuries The castle (castillo) , dating from the 17th century, is in a ruinous state.
  • The single-nave former collegiate church (colegiata) Santa María was consecrated in 1183 - it stands in the northeast corner of the square. Its exterior impresses with the massive Romanesque tower, which is unique in its kind for Aragón and rather refers to Central Europe, and the multi-stepped south portal, which is elevated by archivolts . The single nave interior is barrel vaulted . For Spain, the presence of a three-aisled crypt with non-figurative Romanesque capitals is rather unusual . The unadorned small and irregularly shaped cloister (claustro) on the north side of the church dates from the 15th century ( late Gothic ) and reminds of the fact that the church was formerly part of a collegiate monastery .

Web links

Commons : Aínsa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
  2. Aínsa-Sobrarbe - villages and hamlets
  3. Aínsa - climate diagrams
  4. Aínsa - population development until 1981
  5. ^ Aínsa - population development after 1981