Alfaro (Rioja)

Alfaro municipality
Alfaro - Collegiate Church of San Miguel
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	La Rioja
Coordinates	42 ° 11 ′  N , 1 ° 45 ′  W Coordinates: 42 ° 11 ′  N , 1 ° 45 ′  W
Height :	310  msnm
Area :	194.12 km²
Residents :	9,476 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	48.82 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	26540
Municipality number  ( INE ):	26011
administration
Website :	Alfaro

Alfaro is a northern Spanish town and a municipality ( municipio ) with 9,476 inhabitants (1 January 2019) in the Autonomous Community of La Rioja .

Location and climate

The small town of Alfaro is located at an altitude of about 310  m in the extreme east of the province of La Rioja on the Río Alhama , which flows into the Ebro about 2 km east . The small town is located at the intersection of the roads from Soria (approx. 100 km southwest) to Pamplona (approx. 91 km north) and from Logroño (approx. 85 km northwest) to Saragossa (approx. 103 km southeast). The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 525 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2018
Residents	5,043	5,938	8,076	9,083	9,460

As a result of the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the resulting lower demand for labor in rural communities, many families have migrated to the cities ( rural exodus ).

economy

In the early centuries the residents lived mainly from the agricultural products of the surrounding area, the small town itself functioned as a market and trade center, but craftsmen also settled here. Nowadays the inhabitants work in small industry (approx. 40%), in the service sector (approx. 36%), in the construction sector (approx. 14%) and in agriculture (approx. 10%).

history

In Roman times the place was called Graccurris , it was 179 or 178 BC. Founded by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus near Ilurcis , a settlement of the Iberian Vascones , and belonged to the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis . Visigoths and Moors left no archaeologically usable traces, but the name of the city is clearly of Arabic origin. In the 11th century, King Alfonso I of Aragon recaptured the city ( reconquista ) and initiated the settlement of Christians from the north ( repoblación ) . In 1253, King Alfonso X of Castile gave the place city rights and a short time later (1287) under Sancho IV .

Until the great territorial reform of 1833, Alfaro belonged to the province of Soria ; then the small town was slammed into the newly created province of Logroño . The Alfaro station was established in 1863. On June 21, 1936 Alfaro was occupied by troops from Navarra and Logroño. During the civil war , Alfaro was a field airfield of the National Spaniards , which was also used by the bombers of Kampfgruppe 88 (K / 88) of the German Condor Legion, especially during the Battle of Teruel and the Aragon offensive . In 1980 the name of the Province of Logroño was changed to La Rioja ; it also received the status of an autonomous region .

Attractions

• The collegiate church (Colegiata San Miguel Arcángel) , with two towers on the outside and three aisles on the inside and therefore sometimes also referred to as the “cathedral”, was built in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its facade, constructed entirely of brick , shows stylistic influences from the Renaissance as well as the early Baroque ; it is broken up by a with arcades provided gangway via the portal zone. The gable above is split in the middle and rounded on the sides. The church's choir solution is also remarkable. Almost the entire central nave of the hall church is occupied by an inner choir ( coro and trascoro ) with considerable choir stalls (sillería) ; the late baroque altarpiece (retablo) is also noteworthy.

• 

  altar

• 

  Altar canopy and inner choir

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  Altarpiece

• 

  Choir stalls

• The church facade of the Franciscan convent , which was built in the 1630s, is designed in a similar but much more reserved manner ; it is also built from bricks and is slightly loosened up by some natural stones from the ruined castle (castillo) . The former convent building now serves as a college.

Alfaro - Ermita del Pilar

• The classically designed interior of the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Burgo contains a late Baroque gilded carved altar in the style of Churriguerism (1752). Among the many sculptures, two equestrian figures stand out: One shows St. Georg as a dragon slayer ; the other is dedicated to Santiago , the slayer of the Moors .
• The architecture of the hermit church Ermita de San Roque , built in the 17th century, is extremely strict; the interior, on the other hand, is designed in the baroque style.
• Several city palaces of wealthy aristocratic families enrich the townscape.

outside

• The Roman nymphaeum was part of a canal structure.
• The Ermita del Pilar , about 3 km northwest of the village, was built in the 18th century.

Others

Alfaro is known as the “world capital of storks” as there are around 140 stork nests on the roof of the collegiate church . The city's mayor has announced that the number of nests will be reduced to 90 when the roof is being renovated.

Twin town

• Aureilhan , Hautes-Pyrénées (since 1981)

literature

• Antonio Beltrán Martínez:  Alfaro (“Gracchurris”) Logroño, Spain . In: Richard Stillwell et al. a. (Ed.): The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1976, ISBN 0-691-03542-3 .
• Fritz Pölking and Uwe Walz: Life on the Cathedral . Tecklernborg Verlag, Steinfurt 1996, ISBN 3-924044-25-2

Web links

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

• Alfaro - Infos (wikirioja, Spanish)
• Alfaro, sights - photos + information (Spanish)
• Alfaro, capital of the storks - Infos (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. ↑ Alfaro - climate tables
3. ↑ Alfaro - population development
4. ^ Alfaro - Collegiate Church