Agoncillo (La Rioja)

Agoncillo municipality
	Agoncillo - town view with castle (castillo) and church (iglesia)
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	La Rioja
Comarca :	Logroño
Coordinates	42 ° 27 ′ N , 2 ° 17 ′ W Coordinates: 42 ° 27 ′ N , 2 ° 17 ′ W
Height :	350 msnm
Area :	34.73 km²
Residents :	1,102 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	31.73 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	26160
Municipality number ( INE ):	26002
administration
Website :	Agoncillo

Agoncillo - Castillo de Aguas Mansas

Agoncillo - Last Supper scene in the high altar

Agoncillo is a place and a municipality ( municipio ) with 1,102 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the autonomous community of La Rioja in northern Spain .

Location and climate

The place Agoncillo is located in the Ebro valley near the confluence of the Río Leza in the Ebro a good 14 km (driving distance) east of the provincial capital Logroño at an altitude of about 350 m . The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 485 mm / year) falls over the year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2019
Residents	715	930	1,981	875	1.102

As a result of the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the resulting lower demand for labor, the number of inhabitants in the town declined significantly in the 1980s ( rural exodus ), but after the establishment of a subsidiary of the Würth Group and the expansion of Logroño Airport, it grew again. Recajo is also part of the municipality .

economy

For centuries, the community was agriculturally oriented for the purpose of self-sufficiency , with livestock farming (milk, cheese, meat) in the foreground; The sheep's wool was used to make weaving products that could also be exchanged or sold in the markets of Logroño. But fruit, vegetables and grain were also grown. Numerous weaving mills were located here in the 17th and 18th centuries. Today the Logroño airport, which is located in the municipality and opened in 2003, plays a certain economic role; the German technology company Würth has a branch here. The community is also part of the Rioja Baja wine-growing region .

history

Although the place is in the Ebro Valley, on a trade route that was already widely used in antiquity, there are no traces of Celtiberian , Roman , Visigoth and even Islamic-Moorish settlement in the municipality - with the exception of two Roman stumps and a bridge . Even from a military reconquest ( reconquista ) of the area by the Christians is not known, but the place was under the Repoblación gradually settled. In the Middle Ages, the region was at times disputed between the kingdoms of Castile and Navarre . The place belonged to the lordship of the Señores de Cameros , but their line died out in 1332. In 1337, Rodrigo acquired Alfonso de Medrano, an officer of the crossbowmen (ballesteros) in the army of Alfonso XI. from Castile the place with its castle. In the 18th century, Agoncillo experienced a significant boom because of its textile production. After the abolition of the manorial system in 1811, the area belonged to the province of Soria and only came to the newly created province of Logroño in 1833, from which the La Rioja region later emerged.

Attractions

The Castillo de Aguas Mansas, which is on the outskirts and possibly on the site of a Roman watchtower, is a four-pod fortification with a moat (foso) from the 13th / 14th centuries. Century with a comparatively small inner courtyard. The three smaller towers have stone parapets (Matacanes) , whereas the wooden battlements of the larger and older the keep (Torre del homenaje) have disappeared. The castle was restored in the 1990s.
The single-nave Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Blanca was completed in 1536; Later chapel extensions as well as the addition of a bell tower (campanario) with a lantern led to today's image. The church's greatest treasure is the high altar (retablo) with its numerous carved figures .