Briviesca

Briviesca municipality
	Briviesca - Plaza Mayor
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and León
Province :	Burgos
Comarca :	La Bureba
Coordinates	42 ° 33 ′ N , 3 ° 20 ′ W Coordinates: 42 ° 33 ′ N , 3 ° 20 ′ W
Height :	726 msnm
Area :	81.2 km²
Residents :	6,595 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	81.22 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	09240
Municipality number ( INE ):	09056
administration
Website :	Briviesca

Briviesca is a historically significant small town and municipality ( municipio ) with 6,595 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the northern Spanish province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castile-León . Briviesca is located on a branch of the Camino de Santiago that comes from Bayonne and Irún and joins the main route ( Camino Francés ) in Burgos . The entire center of the capital of the Comarca La Bureba was declared a cultural asset ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) in the category Conjunto histórico-artístico .

Location and climate

Briviesca is located on the west bank of the Río Oca at an altitude of approx. 725 m . The cities of Burgos and Miranda del Ebro are about 46 km (driving distance) to the southwest and 45 km to the northeast. Briviesca has a train station on the Madrid - Irun line. The climate is temperate to warm; the rain, which is abundant by Spanish standards (approx. 670 mm / year), falls - with the exception of the rather dry summer months - over the year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	3,721	3,375	3,664	6.235	6,860

The population numbers, which have increased significantly since the 1950s, are due to the incorporation of the two hamlets (pedanías) Cameno and Quintanillabón, as well as the immigration of families from the rural areas in the area.

economy

The area of Comarca La Bureba has been a wheat-growing area since ancient times, but sunflowers and legumes are also sown. The designation of an industrial area (polígono industrial) near the train station created jobs, which in the last decades of the 20th century led to an influx of workers and their families.

history

A place called Virovesca was mentioned as the capital of the Celtic tribe of the Autrigones by Pliny the Elder in AD 77; later two important Roman roads crossed here . From 5th to 7th The Visigoths settled here in the 17th century and the Moors settled here in the 8th and 9th centuries . At the end of the 9th and beginning of the 10th centuries, however, Islam was pushed back to the areas south of the Duero under the military leadership of the rising Counts of Castile ; there followed a phase of repopulation ( repoblación ) by Christians from the north, but also from the south of the Iberian Peninsula . In the 11th century the region of La Bureba was disputed between the kingdoms of Castile and Navarre , but Alfonso VI was able to. enforce the Castilian territorial claims around the year 1070. In 1123 Briviesca received extensive rights and privileges ( foros ) from Alfonso VII . At the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th century, the city was surrounded by a wall (muralla) ; it also received a palatial castle ( alcázar ) , but nothing has survived .

Attractions

Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor

The 16th century Poor Clare Monastery of Santa Clara is the largest building complex in the city - in addition to the church and the monastery area, it also includes a pilgrims' hospital . The church was designed by Pedro de Rasines ; the over 20 m high altarpiece made of walnut wood was made and installed in the 1550s. In the hospital area there is an inner courtyard that resembles a two-story cloister (claustro) , but has never served as such.
The construction of the collegiate church (Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor) began as early as the 15th century; However, essential parts were not completed until the 17th and 18th centuries, so that especially the western part of the church as a whole is more of the neoclassical style .
The Church of San Martín in Plaza Mayor also dates from the 15th century, but it was redesigned in the 16th century. It has a plateresque portal that is worth seeing, albeit partially destroyed . The three-aisled interior offers late Gothic star vaults , a stone Renaissance pulpit (pulpito) with an annunciation scene and several precious carved altars (retablos) .
The Hospital de Nuestra Señora del Rosario goes back to a will of Doña Mencía de Velasco from 1517. The hospital later generated income from other foundations and donations, including numerous lands. The unadorned two-story inner courtyard is impressive.
Some secular buildings such as the Casa de los Torre , the Palacio de los Martínez España and the Casa de los Salamanca are important testimonies to the city's history.

Surroundings

About 12 km west of Briviesca is the sanctuary of Santa Casilda , which is dedicated to an 11th century Islamic princess who secretly professed Christianity and was a benefactress. The little church has a two-storey bell gable (espadaña) with side gables; inside there is a statue of the saint by Diego de Siloé .

Valdazo

The Romanesque church of the hamlet of Valdazo , which is just under 5 km to the south-west and which was incorporated around the middle of the 19th century, has a south porch ( portico ) that was added later and protects the old Romanesque archivolt portal .