Alberite

Alberite municipality
Alberite - town view
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	La Rioja
Province :	La Rioja
Comarca :	Logroño
Coordinates	42 ° 24 ′  N , 2 ° 26 ′  W Coordinates: 42 ° 24 ′  N , 2 ° 26 ′  W
Height :	450  msnm
Area :	20.24 km²
Residents :	2,422 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	119.66 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	26141
Municipality number  ( INE ):	26006
administration
Website :	Alberite

Alberite is a small town and a municipality (municipio) with 2,422 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the north of the northern Spanish autonomous region of La Rioja . It belongs to the Rioja Baja wine region .

Location and climate

The place Alberite is located in the valley of the Río Iregua about 10 km south of its confluence with the Ebro at an altitude of about 450  m only a good 7 km (driving distance) southeast of Logroño . The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 495 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2018
Residents	800	1,031	1,467	2.012	2,433

The phylloxera crisis in viticulture, the increasing mechanization of agriculture and the abandonment of small farms have led to increased unemployment in the countryside since the middle of the 20th century and, as a result, to a migration of many families to small, medium-sized and larger cities ( rural exodus ). Recently, the proximity to the large city of Logroño has also played an important role in the small town's population growth.

economy

In earlier centuries, many of the town's residents lived largely as self-sufficiency, either directly or indirectly (as craftsmen and tradesmen) from the agriculture in the area . Viticulture , which has been practiced since Roman times , gained in importance, especially in the 19th century, when French winemakers settled in the village to produce wine based on the French model.

history

Alberite - Iglesia de San Martín

Alberite - high altar of San Martín

In 1900, three seemingly primitive stone monoliths were discovered in the municipality, the age of which is undetermined. A few kilometers south of the town there was a Celtic or Celtiberian settlement, which was later Romanised but then abandoned. A Roman grave stele for a lady named Iulia Tibura from the second half of the 1st century is now in the city's care. Visigothic and even Moorish traces are missing, although the place name certainly has an Arabic origin. Around the year 920 Sancho I of Navarre conquered the upper Ebro valley; he succeeded in establishing a small Christian empire in the Iregua Valley , which also included Alberite. After that, the place belonged to the property of the San Martín de Albelda monastery located about 10 km to the south , which was of great regional importance in the 10th and 11th centuries. In 1076 the area was occupied by Alfonso VI. conquered by Castile and devastated by El Cid only 16 years later . It was not until 1664 that Alberite, which had previously belonged to Logroño, received town charter.

Sights and culture

• In the years 1505–1535 the outwardly rather inconspicuous new building of the Iglesia de San Martín was built . The interior of the church has a single nave with side chapels, but it has a transept with a domed crossing . The highlight of the church is the high altar (retablo) with numerous carved figures, created by Arnao de Bruselas in the Renaissance style between 1550–1555 . In the 18th century the church was threatened with collapse and so several architects were commissioned to save the building, during which numerous structural changes were made to the vaults and the dome.
• The Torre de Doña Urraca is a building whose history may go back to the time of Doña Urraca, the daughter of Sancho Garcés III. (11th / 12th century). The once representative building is now rather dilapidated.

Surroundings

• Worth mentioning is the Ermita de Nuestra Senora de la Antigua, about 2 km outside of the village and built at the beginning of the 21st century with the inclusion of older parts .

Web links

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

• Alberite, history - photos + quick facts (spanish)
• Alberite, Tourism - Photos + Info (Spanish)

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. ↑ Alberite - climate tables
3. ↑ Alberite - population development
4. ↑ Alberite History
5. ↑ Alberite Church
6. ↑ Alberite - Torre / Palacio
7. ↑ Alberite - Ermita
8. ↑ Alberite - Ermita