Alcañices

Alcañices municipality
Alcañices - Torre de Reloj
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and Leon
Province :	Zamora
Comarca :	Aliste
Coordinates	41 ° 42 ′  N , 6 ° 21 ′  W Coordinates: 41 ° 42 ′  N , 6 ° 21 ′  W
Height :	805  msnm
Area :	54.76 km²
Residents :	1,076 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	19.65 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	49500
Municipality number  ( INE ):	49003
administration
Website :	Alcañices

Alcañices is a northern Spanish town and capital of a municipality ( municipio ) with 1076 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019 ) in the province of Zamora in the autonomous community of Castile-León . The historic center is recognized as a cultural asset ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) in the Conjunto histórico-artístico category . The hamlets of Alcorcillo , Santa Ana and Vivinera also belong to the municipality .

Toponym

The name alcañices is derived from the Arabic word الكنائس ( Al-Kanā'is ) and means "churches". Another derivation from the word Al-Qannis ("sugar cane") seems difficult to understand given the altitude of the place and its rather cool and dry climate.

Location and climate

Alcañices is located between two streams in the extreme west of the province of Zamora at an altitude of about 805  m near the border with Portugal . The provincial capital Zamora is about 60 km (driving distance) in a south-easterly direction. The northern Portuguese city of Bragança , on the other hand, is only about 42 km northwest. The winter temperatures are quite cool, whereas in summer it is warm to hot; Rain (approx. 595 mm / year) falls throughout the year with the exception of the summer months.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	1,153	1,308	1,709	1,130	1,076

The significant population decline since the 1950s is mainly due to the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the resulting lack of jobs in rural areas ( rural exodus ).

economy

Agriculture (especially livestock and vegetable growing) traditionally plays the largest role in the municipality's economic life. In addition, the place functioned as a trade, craft and service center for the villages and hamlets in the region as early as the Middle Ages. Income from tourism in the form of renting out holiday homes (casas rurales) has increased over the last few decades.

history

There is evidence of a Roman settlement nearby; however, no traces of the Visigoths and Moors have survived. After the reconquest ( reconquista ) and the shifting of the border to the Duero, initiated by Alfonso I of Asturias in the middle of the 8th century and completed by others in the early 10th century , the place was populated only slowly. From 1126 to 1312 it was under the control of the Knights Templar , who fortified it - the Torre de Reloj and the south portal of the parish church may still date from this time . In 1297 the Alcañices Treaty established the border between the kingdoms of Castile-León and Portugal , which since then - interrupted only during the personal union (1580–1640) - forms the border between the two countries. From the 16th to the 18th century the place was ruled by margraves (marqueses) .

Attractions

Nuestra Señora de la Asunción Church

• The parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción is a single-nave building from the 13th century, which was completely redesigned in the 16th century. The portal of the west facade, designed in the style of the Renaissance , is elevated by a bell gable (espadaña) from the same period; the south side of the church is dominated by a porch ( portico ) in which there is also the old portal from the 13th century. The vaulted interior houses a monolithic baptismal font (pila) and a carved altarpiece (retablo) .
• The clock tower (Torre de Reloj) and a tower stump known as Cubo are the only remains of the medieval city fortifications.
• In 1547 the Franciscan order founded an unadorned monastery in the village , which was dissolved in the 19th century as part of the confiscation of church property by the state ( desamortización ) . Today the church is used as a cultural center; the cloister (claustro) of the monastery is badly damaged.
• The ruins of the Castillo de Alcañices also date from the 16th century .
• The Palacio de los Marqueses de Alcañices shows a stone heraldic shield .
• Several houses have open or glazed balconies , as they are more common in northern Spain.

Surroundings

• In the immediate vicinity of the small town there are several springs - framed by spring houses, walls or stone slabs - that can be explored on a circular hiking trail (paseo por las fuentes) . However, some of them have no water in the summer and autumn months.
• About 1.5 km southeast of the hamlet Vivinera are the ruins of a pre-Roman fortification (Cerco de los Moros) measuring about 110 m square , which may be ascribed to the Celtic tribe of the Vettones .

Personalities

• Rafael de Balbín Lucas (1910–1978), Romance scholar, Hispanist and university professor

Web links

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

• Alcañices, History - Photos + Info ( Memento from June 23, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (Spanish)
• Alcañices - photo video
• Alcañices, Cubo - photo
• Alcañices, alley - photo

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. ↑ Alcañices - Climate tables
3. ↑ Alcañices - Population Development
4. ^ Alcañices - History and Buildings