Belvís de Monroy

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Belvís de Monroy municipality
Belvís de Monroy - place and castle (castillo)
Belvís de Monroy - place and castle ( castillo )
coat of arms Map of Spain
Belvís de Monroy coat of arms
Belvís de Monroy (Spain)
Finland road sign 311 (1994-2020) .svg
Basic data
Autonomous Community : ExtremaduraExtremadura Extremadura
Province : Cáceres
Comarca : Campo Arañuelo
Coordinates 39 ° 49 ′  N , 5 ° 37 ′  W Coordinates: 39 ° 49 ′  N , 5 ° 37 ′  W
Height : 385  msnm
Area : 44.98 km²
Residents : 725 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density : 16.12 inhabitants / km²
Founding: 1290
Postal code : 10394
Municipality number  ( INE ): 10026
administration
Website : Belvís de Monroy

Belvís de Monroy is a place and a municipality ( municipio ) with 725 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the province of Cáceres in the autonomous region of Extremadura in southwestern Spain . Several individual farms and the formerly independent town of Casas de Belvís also belong to the community .

location

The place Belvís de Monroy is located south of the Sierra de Gredos and north of the Montes de Toledo a good 105 km (driving distance) northeast of the provincial capital Cáceres at an altitude of about 385 m above sea level. d. M. The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 410 mm / year) falls almost exclusively in the winter half-year.

Population development

year 1842 1900 1950 2000 2016
Residents k. A. 1,041 1,049 604 642

The significant population decline since the 1950s is mainly due to the mechanization of agriculture and the associated loss of jobs.

economy

The area has hardly any arable land. The cultivation of wheat and other crops used to serve mainly for self-sufficiency ; In addition, there were many untreated areas due to the lack of water, which are, however, suitable for extensive livestock farming (sheep and goats), even if in earlier centuries the herds were driven on drift paths ( cañadas ) in the higher mountain regions in central and northern Spain had to be. A reservoir of the Tagus, built in the second half of the 20th century in the south of the municipality, has made a significant contribution to improving agricultural production.

history

Nothing is known about the early and ancient history of the area around Belvís - hardly any Celtic , Iberian and Roman finds have been made so far; From Roman times, however, there is a grave stele that is now attached to the outer wall of a house ( Casa de La Morcona ) in the Casas de Belvís district, about two kilometers to the northeast . The place was on the connection route between the important Roman cities of Mérida ( Emerita Augusta ), Talavera de la Reina ( Caesarobriga ) and Saragossa ( Caesaraugusta ). Archaeologically usable traces of the Visigoths and Moors (after 713) are also missing, as the dry soils were rather unsuitable for agricultural purposes; only the breeding of sheep and goats was possible. Mérida and the surrounding area were founded in 1230 by the Castilian - Leonese troops of Alfonso IX. recaptured from the hands of the Moors ( reconquista ) and gradually settled by Christians from northern Spain. Belvís was founded in 1290, when King Sancho IV gave the area around Belvís to his loyal, Hernán Pérez de Plasencia , who was nicknamed El Bote . Two centuries later, Francisco de Monroy y Zúñiga , a loyal follower of the Catholic Monarchs, received the area around Belvís - he held the title of 'eighth landlord ' ( señor ) of the place and the addition Monroy in the place name goes back to him and his successors .

Attractions

Court pillar ( roller blind )
  • The castle ( castillo ) with its central keep ( torre de homenaje ) was built in the 14th century by the Calatrava order , but later changed several times so that both Gothic and Baroque elements are recognizable; it only fell into disrepair in the 18th and 19th centuries.
  • The local parish church, built in the 14th and 15th centuries, is dedicated to the Apostle James ( Santiago Apóstol ), the spiritual leader of the Reconquista and patron saint of Spain. The rather inconspicuous building has a remarkable choir arch between the nave and the chancel and houses a late medieval monolithic baptismal font . The late medieval open roof structure was replaced by a modern wooden structure at the end of the 20th century.
  • On a stepped square pedestal in the central square of the village stands a court column ( roller blind ), as it is more common in the small towns of Castile (e.g. Berlanga de Duero or Boadilla del Camino ). An octagonal shaft with a ring carries a “capital” with four sea monsters pointing in all directions; Above this, a pyramid-shaped tip adorned with a coat of arms forms the top.

Surroundings

  • The local Franciscan convent ( Convento de San Francisco ) from the 16th century played a not insignificant role in the missionary work of Latin America and the Philippines . The church and cloister ( claustro ) have been restored, but the other convent buildings are in a deplorable condition.
  • The former hermit church ( Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Berrocal ) has also been restored and is the destination of a procession every May .

Web links

Commons : Belvís de Monroy  - 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. ↑ Belvís de Monroy - Map with altitude information
  3. ↑ Belvís de Monroy - population development
  4. ↑ Belvís de Monroy - History
  5. ↑ Belvís de Monroy - Castle
  6. ↑ Belvís de Monroy - Castle
  7. ↑ Belvís de Monroy - Sights
  8. ↑ Belvís de Monroy - Court Column
  9. ↑ Belvís de Monroy - Franciscan Convent
  10. ↑ Belvís de Monroy - Ermita