Arjona (Spain)

Arjona municipality
	Arjona - Plaza Serrano
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Andalusia
Province :	Jaén
Comarca :	Campiña de Jaén
Coordinates	37 ° 56 ′ N , 4 ° 3 ′ W Coordinates: 37 ° 56 ′ N , 4 ° 3 ′ W
Height :	438 msnm
Area :	158.45 km²
Residents :	5,542 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	34.98 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	23760
Municipality number ( INE ):	23006
administration
Website :	Arjona

Arjona is a small town in southern Spain and a municipality ( municipio ) consisting of the main town and several hamlets with a total of 5,542 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the center of the province of Jaén in the autonomous region of Andalusia .

location

The place Arjona is located on a strategically advantageous hill almost 50 km (driving distance) northwest of the provincial capital Jaén at an altitude of almost 440 m above sea level. d. The climate in winter is temperate, in summer it is warm to hot; the low amounts of precipitation (approx. 545 mm / year) fall - with the exception of the almost rainless summer months - distributed over the whole year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2016
Residents	5,391	7,041	9,404	5,634	5,691

The significant population decline in the second half of the 20th century is mainly due to the almost exclusive planting of olive trees, the mechanization that goes with it and the resulting loss of jobs.

economy

Arjona is located in the middle of the endless olive tree plantations in the province of Jaén. In the past, cereals, vines, etc. were also planted for self-sufficiency ; Vegetables came from the house gardens. Small traders, craftsmen and service companies of all kinds have settled in the village. There are also several holiday homes (casas rurales) .

history

During excavations in the central square of the city, a Bronze Age settlement from around 3000 BC was discovered. BC Phoenicians and Greeks also left traces on the municipality; The name OURGABWN (= URGABON) appears on Greek coins . The Romans called the place Urgavo or Urgao Alba ; it was one of the first places in the Iberian Peninsula , which the Roman citizenship was awarded (Municipium Albium Urgabonense) . In 308 the two brothers and local saints Bonosus and Maximianus were executed here. The Visigoths also left their mark, but at the beginning of the 8th century they were overrun by the Moors . After the end of the Caliphate of Cordoba (1031), the city was surrounded with a wall and was given the name Qal'at Aryuna ; it was part of the Taifa Kingdom of Jaén. Around the middle of the 12th century, Arjona fell to the Almohad Empire , which, after its defeat in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) , was exposed to increasing attacks from its Muslim ( Ibn Hud , Muhammad I ibn Nasr ) and Christian neighbors. Probably around the same time as Jaén (1246) Arjona was from the Christians under Ferdinand III. recaptured by Castile ( reconquista ) and incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Jaén , which was, however, closely connected to the Crown of Castile and did not appear politically. The city was initially administered by the Knights Templar , after its defeat (1307-1312) then by the Calatrava Order . The expulsion of the Jews began with the Alhambra Edict (1492) of the Catholic Kings ; in the years around 1610 the last Muslims ( moriscos ) were also expelled.

Attractions

Santuario de las Sagradas reliquias

Arjona still owns considerable parts of the medieval city wall (muralla) whereas the castle (castillo) has disappeared.

In the Santuario de los Santos y de las Sagradas Reliquias (today Museo de los Santos ), built between 1635 and 1644 , the relics of the martyrs Bonosus and Maximianus, which were brought back from Andújar in 1639, are kept. The two-story building rests on Roman foundations.

The immediately neighboring Iglesia de Santa María del Alcázar also dates from the 17th century; it has a transverse bell gable (espadaña) and a camarín . The church building was restored after a fire during the Spanish Civil War .

The Iglesia de San Juan Bautista was also built in the 16th century on the site of a Jewish synagogue . However, the church building was badly damaged during the civil war; the restoration lasted into the 21st century. The arabesque and coat of arms decorated Renaissance portal with lateral head tones is noteworthy .

Even if it looks older, the Iglesia del Carmen dates from the end of the 19th century. The slim five-story bell tower is built in the neo- Mudejar style with alternating layers of stone (brick and natural stone). The interior of the church shows neoclassical shapes.

Near the former main mosque there is an unadorned cistern from the Almohad period (Aljibe Almohade) built from ancient Spolia with a capacity of approx. 210 m³.

The City Hall (ayuntamiento) was the city's former hospital built in the mid-19th century. It has a beautiful inner courtyard and contains two rooms in the neo-Moorish style of the 1920s.

The Cripta del Barón de Velasco is an impressive underground grave monument from the 1920s and 1930s

Caja de los Guerreros

The Museo arqueológico was inaugurated in 2012 and shows interesting finds from the long local history: the first room is dedicated to prehistory, the second room shows Iberian, Roman, Visigoth and Moorish finds and the third room is dedicated to the most famous people in the city's history - Alhamar and Helvia Paulina, Seneca's mother.
There is also a Folklore Museum (Museo de Arte y Costumbres) .

Surroundings

In the hamlet of Piquia , after heavy rainfall, a stone urn box with 'primitive' looking representations of fighting knights was flushed out in autumn 2007 . The dating is controversial; mostly it is the late Iberian art of the 1st century BC. Assigned. It is now in the Jaén Museum.

Personalities

Helvia Paulina (1st century BC), mother of Seneca
Muhammad I ibn Nasr (also called Alhamar ; around 1200–1273), founder of the Nasrid Empire of Granada

Web links

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

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] Arjona - map with altitude information

[3] Arjona - climate tables

[4] Arjona - population development

[5] Arjona - economy etc.

[6] Arjona - History in Key Words

[7] Arjona - city wall

[8] Arjona - city wall

[9] Arjona - Santuario de los Santos y de las Sagradas Reliquias

[10] Arjona - Church of Santa María del Alcázar

[11] Arjona - Church of Santa María del Alcázar

[12] Arjona - Iglesia de San Juan Bautista

[13] Arjona - Iglesia del Carmen

[14] Arjona - Cistern

[15] Arjona - Town Hall

[16] Arjona - Town Hall

[17] Arjona - Crypt

[18] Arjona - Archaeological Museum

[19] Arjona - Folklore Museum

[20] Arjona - Helvia Paulina