Candelario (Salamanca)

Candelario municipality
Candelario - town view
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and León
Province :	Salamanca
Comarca :	Sierra de Béjar
Coordinates	40 ° 22 ′  N , 5 ° 45 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 22 ′  N , 5 ° 45 ′  W
Height :	1125  msnm
Area :	60.17 km²
Residents :	879 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	14.61 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	37710
Municipality number  ( INE ):	37078
administration
Website :	Candelario

Candelario is a town in western Spain and a municipality ( municipio ) with 879 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the province of Salamanca in the extreme south of the autonomous community of Castile-León .

Location and climate

The place Candelario is located in the Sierra de Béjar in the headwaters of the Río Cuerpo de Hombre about 76 km (driving distance) south of the provincial capital Salamanca at an altitude of about 1125  m . The small town of Béjar, which is well worth seeing , is only about 5 km to the north-west. The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 555 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	2,329	2,324	1,651	1.109	934

The population decline since the beginning of the 20th century is essentially due to the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the associated loss of jobs.

economy

For centuries, the community's population lived on agriculture (especially cattle breeding) as a self-sufficient living . Craftsmen and small traders have settled in the village. Vacant houses have been rented out as holiday homes (casas rurales) since the 1960s ; Day tourists also play a certain role in the income situation of the municipality. The La Covatilla ski area is only approx. 6 km south-east .

history

It is believed that the Celtic tribe of the Vettons settled here. In Roman times the "Silver Road" ( Via de la Plata ) ran through the area; The Moors also advanced north on it in the 8th century. After the Christian reconquest ( reconquista ) , King Alfonso IX gave. from León the area of Soto de Francia in 1192 to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela . In 1209, Alfonso VIII of Castile created the largely independent administrative unit Villa y Tierra de Béjar , to which Candelario belonged for centuries.

Attractions

Candelario - town center with church

• The town center, with its mostly two or even three- story granite stone houses, makes a thoroughly representative impression; only a few buildings are half-timbered structures . Almost all houses have loggias and / or balconies .
• The three-aisled Iglesia de Virgen de la Asunción , which began in the 14th century but was not completed until the 17th century, consists of the same materials as the town's houses. While the exterior is rather unadorned, the interior, covered by wooden ceilings, captivates with several altar retables (retablos) . Particularly noteworthy are the artesonado ceilings and the altars in the three apses .
• The Ermita del Humilladero in the middle of the village dates from the 18th century. The altarpiece was brought here from an abandoned church in Béjar.
• The Museo de la Casa Chacinera , opened in 2008, is dedicated to the folk art of the region.

Surroundings

• On a hill about 1 km southwest of the village there is a lookout point (Cruz del Herrerito) with wide views over the surrounding mountains.

Web links

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

• Candelario, tourism site - photos + brief 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. ↑ Candelario - climate tables
3. ↑ Candelario - population development