Alcaracejos

Alcaracejos municipality
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Andalusia
Province :	Cordoba
Coordinates	38 ° 23 ′  N , 4 ° 58 ′  W Coordinates: 38 ° 23 ′  N , 4 ° 58 ′  W
Height :	602  msnm
Area :	175.62 km²
Residents :	1,486 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	8.46 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	14480
Municipality number  ( INE ):	14003

Alcaracejos is a Spanish municipality in the province of Cordoba in Andalusia . In 2019 the community had 1,486 inhabitants. It covers an area of ​​176 km² and has a population density of 8.5 inh / km². The average altitude is 602 m above sea level , it is about 74 km from the provincial capital Córdoba .

Names

So far there is no uniform theory about the origin of the name. Therefore, different etiologies are listed below:

• According to Miguel Asin Palacios , it could be a literal translation in Castillian from an Arabic fruit designation. El cerezuelo , (Alcazar) in Arabic would then be 'cherry' (cherry tree). At the same time, a Hispano-Muslim settlement must then be assumed.
• Juan Ocaña Torrejón agrees , but assumes that the name is a confirmation of the old name Allozo (Almendro - wild almond tree), which the neighboring village of Villanueva del Duque gave it.
• Father Fita even identifies the place with an ancient place of the Romans. The proximity to two other places from this time would speak for this: Ladrillar ( pile of bricks ) and Derro del Santo (Holy Mountain). It is possible that there were farms or smelters there.
• However, a description from 1887 states that the village was mistakenly named Alcaracejos . The Diccionario hispano americano (Barcelona 1887) leads the name back to Arabic, as does the Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europea Americana . A relationship with the Arabic Alcharac (campanilla, bellflower) is also established there.
• Ramírez De Las Casas Deza leads the name back to the Arabic word Al caria (hamlet). This is supported by the fact that some farms on the road from Córdoba to Almadén have existed since Roman times. Because there were several small farmsteads, one could explain the plural and the diminutive (al caria / alquería) in this way. And the name Mojino for the inhabitants could also be derived from it, because it alludes to birds that live in small groups in the oak forests.

Finally there is the derivation of the expression Alcázar Viejo . The Almanac of the Bishop of Córdoba from 1875 says: According to the tradition that is handed down in the town, the Emir Abd ar-Rahman II had a lush Alcázar built, which he used to relax on his rabbit and partridge hunts. After the Reconquista , shepherds from Pedroche tinkered huts in the ruins and called the place Alcázar Viejo and the current name was probably created by blurring the language. However, this last possibility does not explain the plural with which Alcaracajos is referred to, although remains of Moorish settlement have actually been found in the area, which make the existence of an Alcázar probable. Older residents also know the legend about the Cerro Del Castillo (Cuzna) : there is said to be an enchanted treasure that is guarded by a mora that turns into a wild animal. Since the Reconquista, the place has existed under its current name and since then it has also been part of Pedroche , without being affected by the foundations that concerned the territories of Del Valle that immediately bordered it. They were made by the lords of Santa Eufemia y Belalcázar .

At the end of the 15th century (approx. 1488) the place, together with its neighboring villages, received the title of city. Through which a separate jurisdiction could be established. So the place was only subordinate to Cordoba. However, he did not lose communion with the other villages of Las Siete Villas De Los Pedroches .

geography

location

The municipality is located in the north of the province of Córdoba, in the center of the administrative unit ( comarca ) Los Pedroches . it borders on Dos Torres and Villaralto in the north, Añora in the east, Villanueva del Duque in the west, Pozoblanco and Espiel in the southeast.

climate

Estación Meteorológica de Alcaracejos
Periodo 1951 - 1992	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual average
Average annual temperature (° C)	07.0	08.4	11.1	13.6	17.8	22.3	26.9	26.6	23.2	16.8	10.8	07.2	16.0
Mean precipitation ( mm )	55.7	57.1	50.2	48.6	38.6	26.5	11.3	12.2	18.5	61.3	57.8	66.1	503.9

history

In 1487, the residents of Alcaracejos led a process to free themselves from the jurisdiction of Torremilano, after which they formed their own municipal council the following year. We also know that in 1557 the towns and cities met in Alcaracejos to draw up and enact an ordinance on the distribution of communal lands (Dehesas de la jara Ruices, Navas del Emperador) . The signatories were representatives of the municipalities of Alcaracejos, Añora, Pedroche, Pozoblanco, Torrecampo, Torremilano and Villanueva de Córdoba. Later, when Felipe IV declared this area his property, on January 11, 1644, the representatives of these cities met in the Ermita de Piedrasantas of Pedroche to try to buy them up, and Alcaracejos sent his Alcalden D. Francisco Pérez Campanero to this end and D. Mateo Sánchez Cerro with the scribe D. Francisco Fernández Franco . On July 6th, they bought the property for twelve thousand ducats, payable within four years. This treaty united 28,747 fanegas from the border areas of Córdoba (the Dehesa was then called “la concordia”), 46,960 fanegas from the Obejo area and 6,950 fanegas parcels from Labrados .

In 1660 the place was sold together with the other places of Las Villas De Los Pedroches by Felipe IV as Marqués del Carpio and only came back to the Spanish crown in 1747.

In 1649 the plague raged and decimated the place to a third of its inhabitants. The Almanac of the Bishop of Cordoba continues: “It consists of 10 streets with names: Padrón, Plaza, Empedrada, Cerrillo, Morcón, Santo, Cumbre, Realejo, Pilar and Fuente. It has a parish church dedicated to San Andrés, this is extensive, of good construction and stable vault. The construction is Arabic, made of quarry stones, built on a prominent place and its main facade faces east. The large altar is decorated with beautiful carvings, of which an image of the divine face (Rostro Divino) is venerated. The baptismal register extends to 1554, the marriage register to 1578, that of the deaths to 1615. The old cemetery, which was moved in 1842 to the area around the Ermita de la Magdalena , is located in the enclosure of the Parroquia . The town's granary was built in 1563 and renovated in 1785. It is kept in very good condition and forms an apple (?) In the middle of the square and contains 1200 fanegas of wheat in its store. There are many and abundant wells. ”In 1921 Alfonso XIII. the Order of La Cruz De Beneficencia to Mr. García-Arévalo .

In the second half of the 19th century, caciquismo (bonzocracy) also flourished in Alcaracejos, which can be seen from the fact that the voting cards clearly indicated which candidate was desired. This can be seen in a letter from the Governor of Cordoba that the opposition candidate, Félix García Gómez De La Serna, submitted to challenge the elections in the Pozoblanco district:

“El Gobernador de la Provincia de Córdoba, January 10, 1876

Senor Alcalde de Alcaracejos. My dear friend:

I have received news that people who work for the opposition candidate are making up false accusations, among other things, in order to have the administration changed in his favor. If the municipalities fail to ensure the government's success, it will do so, but if, I hope, they do their utmost to do their duty for the candidate of the ministry, said V., he can be sure that nothing will come of it changes his presidency, I gave him my assurances on behalf of the government. ... "

The uprising of July 18, 1936, which was primarily controlled by the right-wing, collapsed again in Alcaracejos on August 15 of the same year and the village remained in Republican hands until the end of the war. On the same day Pozoblanco and the armed forces of the right surrendered and the militias withdrew from the surrounding villages under the command of G. Civil Rodríguez de Austria . One of the greatest battles in the republic took place there, the famous Batalla de Pozoblanco (March – April 1937). Queipo de Llano launched the offensive on March 6th to clear the way to the Santuario de la Cabeza and the mines of Almadén . From Peñarroya came two sections towards Villanueva del Duque. The Gómez Cobian unit moved from Espiel to Alcaracejos and that of Commander Fermín Hidalgo from Villaharta . Several unforeseen situations arose during the operation. On the one hand, the unexpected strength of the Brigadas Republicanas : four battalions (20, 25, 73, 74) were on site and, in addition, heavy rain set in. For 10 days the Franquists were unable to march into Villanueva del Duque and for 4 days they encountered fierce resistance from Republican Brigades 20 and 25, as well as the artillery under Blanco Pedraza , until March 15, a fresh unit from Espiel under the command of Coronel Baturone came and could conquer the Puerto Calatraveño and invade Alcaracejos. They forced the Republicans to withdraw as far as Pozoblanco. On the 17th day the Franquists reached this last place two kilometers away. Pérez Salas was the commander in Pozoblanco, fled during the night and re-established the battle line with the armed forces of the neighboring area. When the Republican Air Force appeared on March 18, as well as T-26 tanks and the first units of the 52 brigada de Almería , the critical situation was saved. On March 24, the Republican commander led the counter-offensive to regain the lost territory. For the rest of the year, the Duche troops were confined to regions of the mountains, such as Chimorra . After the Batalla de Valsequillo on March 26, 1939, the victorious offensive began, which met no more resistance, and on the same day the Army Corps entered Alcaracejos, which ended the war.

In view of the destruction after the war, the Dirección de Regiones Devastadas had various buildings rebuilt: Ermita de San Andrés (in place of the destroyed parish church), a school with four classrooms, a group of 22 houses and the barracks of the Guardia Civil . The resumption of mining helped the residents. Alcaracejos had 2809 inhabitants in 1953 and 3011 in 1960. When the mines were closed in the 1960s, this led to a population decline. In 1981 there were 1439 inhabitants and in 1987 there were 1524 inhabitants in 474 inhabited buildings and 220 abandoned or holiday homes. The many bodies of water that lure as holiday destinations are an attraction. On May 5, 1954, the Ministerio de la Gobernación allowed the administration of Alcaracejos to design a city coat of arms based on the specifications of the Real Academia De La Historia . The Cerro del Castillo del Cuzna , located in the area of ​​Villanueva del Duque but only 7 km from Alcaracejos, had a certain influence on the region, which is why it should be mentioned here: The Cora de Fahs al Ballut , whose capital was Bitrawsh (Pedroche), considered the area vital to the defense of their state for military reasons, because the roads that connected Córdoba with Toledo and the Marcas ran along it. The cora is a natural region whose territory was part of what Pliny described: Beturia de los Turdulos , belonging to the Conventus Cordubensis . Even Strabo speaks of Beturia as a large fertile plain, covered with large trees and good for shepherds. During the Visigothic rule the area belonged to the Diócesis de Córdoba and politically to the Ducado de Córdoba . In the first years of the Muslim rule, the whole of the Valle de Los Pedroches fell under the jurisdiction of Cordoba. It was converted into a kura (cora) in 743. From the first days of the Muslim conquest, it was mostly occupied by Berbers . The Berbers were part of the Burt tribe , they received land rights and royal privileges. First of all that of Santa Eufemia. This also resulted in a transformation of the agricultural system due to the different eating habits of the new residents.

Antón López de Logroño, the Procurador of the Villa de Pedroche , brought a lawsuit before the Alcaldes Mayores , the highest judicial authority of Cordoba, because of the frequent damage that the neighboring towns of Pedroche suffered for no reason, caused by the council, neighbors and residents of Santofimia and its lands ... that in 1412 the Alcaldes y alguaciles (councilors and servants) marched from Santofimia to a place called Alcaracejos, where there are about forty or more residents, as can be deduced from the custom of that time, counting inhabited houses and changing borders and taking over a legua and a half (miles) of land and forcing (the residents) to pay taxes on clothing. They took the income from the residents of this area and sold them to the judges of Santofimia . The said council was part of the process. But nothing was done to remedy the grievances. In order to assess the actions of the Cordobesian authorities, one has to consider the damage to the production of the communities with the rights and interests of the settlements, which were damaged by the more powerful. In the 1540 census, Córdoba had 5845 house communities, Pozoblanco 491, Pedroche 1139, Torremilano 756, Torrefranca 120, Alcaracejos 187, Santa Eufemia 309, E1 Guijo 209, El Viso 180.

It is similar with the distribution of the areas: Santa Eufemia, El Viso, El Guijo and Torrefranca belonged to the Señorío de Santa Eufemia. On the other hand, Pedroche, Pozoblanco, Torremilano, Alcaracejos, Torrecampo belonged to Córdoba, to which they were subject to tax, and the royal territories and their elected lords applied the law in the first instance, with direct recourse to royal law.

politics

mayor

• 1995-2015: Luciano Cabrera Gil (PSOE)

Results of the local elections

On May 24, 2015, the city council was newly elected. The following is a list of the political structure:

Local elections 2015 in Alcaracejos.

Political party	2015
	%	Seats (9)
Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE)	66.70	6th
Partido Popular (PP)	32.27	3

Attractions

Alcaracejos is a crossroads of different paths and, so to speak, the entrance hall of Los Pedroches. The whitewashed walls of his houses and the granite portals give a clear picture of the architectural style in the region. Thanks to the finds on the Camino del Muzgaño , life in Alcaracejos can be reconstructed from the end of the Neolithic . The lack of archaeological finds is only due to the fact that so far no spectacular finds have been made that would stimulate further exploration. One can assume, however, that the Iberian cultures and Bético Andaluzas would be found. Between the way from Muzgaño and the Arroyo, as well as on the A1 northeast of la Chimorra, remains of stone hammers were found; about two kilometers away from the bridge over the Arroyo del Lorito (road to Guadalbarbo) and only about thirty meters away from the old Camino Real , there are the remains of a dolmen that was easily recognizable until 1981, but was badly damaged during road works.

At Cerro Castillejo , near the Barranco Lagarejo and close to the road to Córdoba, remnants of walls were found, in the next hill is the cave of Juan Palomo and also in the Peñón de Lazarillo , south of Chimorra is a cave that still has one scientific investigation is waiting. In 1986 , in Cerro de la Atalayuela , three kilometers further north, on the way to Añora, various pre-Romanesque ceramics, as well as a polished stone ax and several hand millstones came to light (probably 3rd century BC). One of the treasures exhibited in the Museo Arqueológico de Córdoba comes from the Almadén (Pozoblanco) mine, but this mine (other name: Chaparro Barrenado ) belongs to the area of ​​Alcaracejos. It is located seven kilometers south in the Sierra Morena of Espiel.

On a hill between the Arroyos Guadalbarbo and Musgaño , at an altitude of 650 m, the Camino real , the old vía Corduba-Emérita , runs past the foot of the mountain . There are several small bumps on the hill itself. The remains of a basilica were discovered under one of them, and a little further on the remains of another building. In between there is a hollow that leads directly to the Camino real and probably marks the old entrance to the village. In 1913, the then owner of the site, R. Blanco, began an excavation after discovering the remains and described the remains of a Visigoth basilica. Since his finca belonged to the area of ​​Alcaracejos, the church found its way into literature as Basílica de Alcaracejos . However, this is a mistake, because the Cerro del Germo is actually in the area of ​​Espiel, because the Camino real separates the municipal areas at this point. So one should speak of the Basílica del cerro del Germo en Espiel . This mistake repeatedly led to confusion. There are remains of small settlements from the Moorish period. One of them is next to the Arroyo de los Tejares and another in the Granjera parcel (breeding area), 5 km south of Alcaracejos, there are other scattered remains, such as a paddle wheel at a spring and various mills on the banks of the Río Cuzna , so-called "bucket mills" (molinos de cubo) and other mills with aqueducts and drop tower at the Arroyo de la Gargantilla in the east of la Chimorra (Molino de la Gargantilla) .

The parish church of San Andrés was destroyed in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and rebuilt in 1965. A Gothic portal survived the destruction and was rebuilt into the church. Right next to the cemetery is the Ermita de la Magdalena hermitage and the Ermita de San Sebastián is very similar to the previous one. It dates from the 16th century. However, there are interesting archaeological remains on their site: the Arab mill La Gargantilla , a memory of the Berber clan of the Bereber de Kazna and the Molino Horadado. The portal Portada de la antigua Casa del Pavo is a portal from the 16th century, which is currently in the Facade of the local administration is integrated.

Museums

• The Museo de la Matanza (Battle Museum) exhibits various tools for slaughter (Spanish: faenamiento, matanza).

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. ^ [1] Instituto Nacional de Estadística.
3. ^ Article in El Córdoba , Eugenio Solis
4. ^ D. Juan Ocaña
5. ↑ Agenda 21 de Alcaracejos - Diputación de Córdoba
6. ↑ D. Juan Ocaña Torrejón
7. ^ Almanaque del Obispado 1875
8. ^ «El Gobernador de la Provincia de Córdoba, 10 de enero de 1876
   Sr. Alcalde de Alcaracejos. Mí estimado amigo:
   Ha llegado a mi, noticias que las gentes que trabajan por el candidato de oposición, entre otras falsedades que inventa para conseguir su objeto es la de que hechas las elecciones se cambiaran los ayuntamientos en su favor. Si los ayuntamientos faltan al Gobierno de seguro sucederá así, pero si cumplen como espero con su deber apoyando con todas sus fuerzas al candidato ministerial, diga V. al de su presidencia que puede estar seguro de que nadie le ha de cambiar, que yo se lo afirmó en nombre del Gobierno. ... »
9. ^ Antonio Arjona Castro: El reino de Córdoba durante la dominación musulmana . Editado por la Excma. PhD thesis from 1982
10. ^ Resultado ( Memento of May 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Elecciones Municipales en Alcaracejos.

literature

• Mancomunidad de Los Pedroches: Los Pedroches. Mancomunidad de Municipios, Cordoba. Guia Turistica 1998. CO-1,388-1998.

Web links

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

• Alcaracejos - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía
• Alcaracejos municipality