Almarza

Almarza municipality
Almarza - Iglesia de San Gregorio and Casa Fuerte
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and León
Province :	Soria
Comarca :	El Valle (Soria)
Coordinates	41 ° 57 ′  N , 2 ° 28 ′  W Coordinates: 41 ° 57 ′  N , 2 ° 28 ′  W
Height :	1150  msnm
Area :	101.13 km²
Residents :	591 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	5.84 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	42169
Municipality number  ( INE ):	42019
administration
Website :	Almarza

Almarza is a place and a mountain community ( municipio ) with only 591 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the northwest of the Spanish province of Soria in the autonomous community of Castile and León . The municipality includes about a dozen villages and hamlets that were incorporated into the 1960s, but two of them are already completely depopulated ( despoblados ) .

Location and climate

The municipality of Almarza is located in the mountain landscape in the north of the province of Soria at an altitude of approx. 1050 to 1150  m . The distance to the southern provincial capital Soria is approx. 23 km (driving distance). The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 620 mm / year) falls over the year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	436	514	518	615	604

The increasing mechanization of agriculture and the resulting loss of jobs led to a significant decline in the population in the second half of the 20th century, which, however, could be absorbed by incorporation.

economy

The place Almarza served for centuries as a trade, handicraft and service center for the agricultural villages and farmsteads in the area. It was also an important station in the system of trade and livestock routes ( Cabaña Real de Carreteros ) in northern Spain. Today tourism in the form of rental of holiday homes (casas rurales) plays a not insignificant role for the income of the municipality.

history

In the village of Cubo de la Sierra a Neolithic large stone grave ( Dolmen de San Gregorio ) was uncovered, which dates from around 3500 to 4000 BC. Is dated. From the Celtiberian era (6th to 2nd century BC) there are two ramparts identified as castra ; The bridge in the village of Espejo de Tera , known as puente romano , may still come from Roman times . After the Arab-Moorish conquest , large areas in the north of the Iberian Peninsula were depopulated and were only repopulated by Christians from the north in the 10th and 11th centuries ( repoblación ) ; the first Romanesque churches were built in the 12th century . From the 16th to the 18th century, the region experienced an economic boom due to the export of wool to Flanders , which can be seen in the renovation or construction of several churches.

Attractions

Altarpiece of the Church of Santa Lucía

Almarza

• The Casa Fuerte de San Gregorio is an extraordinary late medieval building complex consisting of a church (Iglesia de San Gregorio) and a monastery, which was handed over to the Dominican order in the 16th century .
• The parish church ( Iglesia de Santa Lucía ), built entirely from stone with the exception of a few corner stones, is a single-nave building in the transitional style between the late Gothic and Renaissance ; it had a previous Romanesque building, of which only small traces have been preserved. The late Baroque altarpiece shows columns entwined with wine and pilasters in the Churrigueresque style on top .
• The Ermita de la Inmaculada Concepción has an octagonal floor plan, which is unusual for the region.
• The Ermita de los Santos Nuevos baroque coats of arms (blasones) of the Marqueses de Zafra .
• The Palacio de la Familia Montenegro is a remarkable building from the 18th century.

• 

  Coat of arms of the knight of Santiago, Don Juan Ramírez de Almarza

• 

  Palace with heraldic shield

• 

  baroque noble coat of arms

Cubo de la Sierra

• The Casa Fuerte is a late Gothic building from 1461; it belonged to the Medrano family.
• The Iglesia de Santo Tomás Apóstol is a building from the 18th century; the Romanesque apse is still preserved.
• The remains of the megalithic Dolmen de San Gregorio are not far from today's location.

Espejo de Tera

• On the outskirts there is a bridge called puente romano .
• The unadorned Romanesque village church of San Bonifacio is largely unchanged.

Gallinero

• In the rural Gothic Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario there are graves and coats of arms of the Vinuesa family.
• The Casa gótica de los Vinuesa is an important testimony to late Gothic civil architecture.
• Dinosaur tracks can be found on rock slabs in the area ( Yacimento de Icnitas ).
• Barely noticeable remains of a Celtiberian castrum can be found in the area.

Matute de la Sierra

• The small Romanesque village church houses a baptismal font that is well worth seeing .

Portelárbol

• The Iglesia Santo Tomás Apóstol is Romanesque.

San Andrés de Soria

• The Iglesia de San Andrés is a building from the late Gothic period; traces of a Romanesque predecessor church can be seen on the portal.

Segovela

• The Iglesia de la Santa Cruz , which was largely rebuilt in the 18th century , still has its Romanesque apse.

Sepúlveda de la Sierra

• At the later renewed church of Santo Tomás Apóstol a beautiful Romanesque portal surprises.
• In the vicinity is the Castro celtíbero del Zaranzano

Tera

• At the late Gothic Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Carmen , remains of a previous Romanesque building can still be seen.
• The Casa Solariega de los Marqueses de Vadillo dates from the 15th century.

Web links

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

• Almarza, history - photo + info (Spanish)
• Almarza, sights - photos + information (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. ↑ Almarza - climate tables
3. ↑ Almarza - population development
4. ↑ Almarza - monastery
5. ↑ Almarza - Dolmen de San Gregorio