Balsareny

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Balsareny municipality
Balsareny - Castell
Balsareny - Castell
coat of arms Map of Spain
Balsareny coat of arms
Balsareny (Spain)
Finland road sign 311 (1994-2020) .svg
Basic data
Autonomous Community : CataloniaCatalonia Catalonia
Province : Barcelona
Comarca : Bages
Coordinates 41 ° 52 '  N , 1 ° 53'  E Coordinates: 41 ° 52 '  N , 1 ° 53'  E
Height : 327  msnm
Area : 36.71 km²
Residents : 3,159 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density : 86.05 inhabitants / km²
Postal code : 08660
Municipality number  ( INE ): 08018
administration
Website : www.balsareny.net

Balsareny is a place and a municipality ( municipi ) with 3159 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the Comarca of Bages in Catalonia . The localities of Nosa, La Rabeia, Sant Esteve and Vilafruns also belong to the municipality.

location

The place Balsareny is located at an altitude of about 325 meters above sea level. d. M. on the west bank of the Riu Llobregat in the cultural and wine landscape of Pla de Bages . The cities of Barcelona and Manresa are about 82 kilometers (driving distance) southeast and about 21 kilometers southwest.

Population development

year 1960 1970 1981 1990 2000 2011
Residents 3,987 4,024 3,624 3,438 3,230 3,519

In the middle of the 19th century the community had about 1,500 inhabitants; Since then, the population has continued to grow up to the middle of the 20th century, which has not been interrupted by the mechanization of agriculture . Only in the last few decades did the population decrease noticeably.

economy

In the past, the residents lived mainly as self-sufficient farmers from agriculture , which also included growing wine and keeping cattle (especially pigs). As early as the end of the Middle Ages, Balsareny also functioned as a craft and mercantile center for the villages and individual farms (masies) in the area. In the early 19th century, the Pla de Bages region developed into an important wine-growing region , but as a result the communities suffered particularly from the phylloxera crisis . In 1945 the mining of potash salts ( carnallite ), which is used in the chemical industry and as fertilizer , began. In the last few decades, smaller handicraft and industrial companies have settled here, which have been able to absorb the loss of jobs caused by abandoning the textile industry.

history

In the 9th and 10th centuries, the area was recaptured ( reconquista ), repopulated ( repoblación ) and fortified with castles (castells) by the Counts of Barcelona . A castle and the landlord family (Senyors de Balsareny) are mentioned in documents as early as the 10th century. At the beginning of 1714, the small town was set on fire by Spanish soldiers in the final phase of the War of the Spanish Succession .

Attractions

Balsareny Castle
  • The two-storey interior, about 420 meters high and built in the 14th and 15th centuries, d. H. Balsareny fort, built in the late Gothic period , has a rudimentary pentagonal floor plan and shows on the outside a brickwork made of comparatively precisely worked house stones and in regular layers; The walls, which are a good meter thick, are mostly made of filler material. The Gothic fortification ( donjon ) has a circumferential battlement with a slightly protruding crenellated crown at the top. The rooms, illuminated by double and triple windows ( bifories and triforias), are grouped around an inner courtyard with a central draw well . The rooms of the castle are not vaulted, but are spanned by wooden beam ceilings . The castle is now used as a museum.
  • In the immediate vicinity is the small late Romanesque castle chapel , whose portal, originally located on the south side, was bricked up in the 16th century and replaced by one on the west side. The single-nave interior is spanned by a barrel vault slightly pointed at the apex ; the apse shows a simple dome vault . A large baroque side chapel was built on the north side.
  • The local parish church of Santa Maria has three aisles and dates from the 13th century - the late Romanesque ; inside it was according to the taste of the 17th / 18th centuries. Century redesigned.
  • The unadorned, but dilapidated Romanesque chapel of Santa Margarida impresses with its secluded location.
  • There are several listed manor houses (masies or canes) spread across the municipality .

Personalities

literature

  • Vicenç Buron: Esglésies Romàniques Catalanes. Artestudi Edicions, Barcelona 1977, p. 83, ISBN 84-85180-06-2 .

Web links

Commons : Balsareny  - 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).