Chinchilla de Montearagón

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Chinchilla de Montearagón parish
Chinchilla de Montearagón - aerial view
Chinchilla de Montearagón - aerial view
coat of arms Map of Spain
Chinchilla de Montearagón coat of arms
Chinchilla de Montearagón (Spain)
Finland road sign 311 (1994-2020) .svg
Basic data
Autonomous Community : Castile La ManchaCastile-La Mancha Castile-La Mancha
Province : Albacete
Comarca : Monte Ibérico-Corredor de Almansa
Coordinates 38 ° 55 ′  N , 1 ° 44 ′  W Coordinates: 38 ° 55 ′  N , 1 ° 44 ′  W
Height : 900  msnm
Area : 680.03 km²
Residents : 4,206 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density : 6.19 inhabitants / km²
Postal code : 02520
Municipality number  ( INE ): 02029
administration
Website : Chinchilla de Montearagón

Chinchilla de Montearagón is a Spanish town and municipality ( municipio ) with 4,206 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the center of the province of Albacete in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha .

Location and climate

The town of Chinchilla de Montearagón, located about 900  m above sea level, is just under 270 km (driving distance) southeast of Madrid and is in the immediate vicinity of the much younger provincial capital Albacete . The climate is temperate in winter, but warm in summer; the rather sparse rain (approx. 430 mm / year) falls - with the exception of the rather dry summer months - over the year.

Population development

year 1857 1900 1950 2000 2019
Residents 6,044 6,680 7,074 3,205 4,206

As a result of the increasing drought and the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the resulting lower demand for labor, the number of inhabitants had declined sharply since the middle of the 20th century, but after the turn of the millennium, the proximity to the Albacete area led to a renewed upswing.

economy

The agriculture , the viticulture and the dairy and grazing, played for centuries the most important roles on self-sufficiency oriented economic life of the community. Traders, craftsmen and service providers of all kinds who had to be supplied by the farmers settled in the town itself - there were street markets for this purpose. The improvement of the infrastructure in the second half of the 20th century and the connection to the Autovía A-30 and Autovía A-31 led to an expansion of the sales markets.

history

Chinchilla Castle

Local tradition traces the origin of the place back to the Greek demigod Hercules . A wealthy Iberian built a mausoleum near the present city . In Roman times the place was called Saltigi and was on the important military and trade route of the Via Augusta . In the 8th century, Arab-Islamic conquerors took power; but it was only in the time of the Caliphate of Cordoba (929-1031) under the names gained Ghenghalet , Yinyalá or Sintinyala mentioned in various contemporary documents city of some importance. In 1242 it was recaptured ( reconquista ) by the combined armies of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon and the Order of Calatrava and Santiago . In the Treaty of Alcaraz (1243), the Emir of Murcia surrendered territory . The area was then for a long time under the sovereignty of the Crown of Aragon; however, it remained controversial. In 1422, the Castilian King John II granted city rights and Chinchilla became the capital of the Mancha de Aragón region . Since 1445 the area belonged to the newly created Margraviate of Villena , whose first incumbent was the royal adviser and general Juan Pacheco († 1474), who had many buildings - including the castle - redesigned. The city officially joined Castile in 1480.

Attractions

Santa María del Salvador Church
Rock cellar ( bodegas ) with smoke outlets
  • The mausoleum of Pozo Moro , which is surrounded by several reclining lion figures and is now in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional de España in Madrid, dates from the Iberian period (5th / 6th century BC) .
  • From the time during the Caliphate of rammed earth (walls and towers) or stone (goals) built Arab wall (muralla) parts still remain.
  • The Castillo de Chinchilla was built in the 14th century by order of the Infante Juan Manuel ; Juan Pacheco bought it in the 15th century and converted it. The core of the castle, which is surrounded by an imposing gate and numerous semicircular defense towers with curtains in between, is surrounded by an outer wall ring with a 6 m deep and up to 10 m wide moat (foso) behind it, which was carved into the rock. At the beginning of the 16th century, Cesare Borgia was imprisoned here for some time. The castle served as a prison from the 17th to the 20th century.
  • The construction of the Iglesia de Santa María del Salvador began in the early 14th century; a little later the main portal with the statues of the Mother of God Mary as well as of Peter and Paul was built . The exterior of the church was not completed until the 15th and 16th centuries and thus includes late Gothic and Renaissance elements; the interior was baroque in the 1720s, but later redesigned in a neoclassical style. The furnishings include an important panel painting by an unknown master from the 16th century with the biblical scene of Noli me tangere .
  • Built in the 14th century on the outskirts Dominicans - Convention is a rather unspectacular building ensemble.
  • The town hall (Casa Consistorial) was built in the 16./17. Century. The baroque facade, adorned with the coat of arms, with its wide balcony was shown in front of the building in the 18th century.
  • The Museo de Cerámica Nacional , founded in 1980, is mainly dedicated to the newer ceramic art in Spain.
Surroundings
  • Also worth seeing are those carved into the rock and partly in the cellar vaults ( bodegas ) with smoke vents .
  • The Finca de los Aljibes is the largest of the modern wineries.

Web links

Commons : Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón  - 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. ↑ Chinchilla de Montearagón - climate tables
  3. ^ Chinchilla de Montearagón - population development
  4. ↑ Chinchilla de Montearagón - History
  5. ↑ Chinchilla de Montearagón - Pozo Moro Mausoleum
  6. ↑ Chinchilla de Montearagón - city wall
  7. ^ Chinchilla de Montearagón - Castillo
  8. ↑ Chinchilla de Montearagón - Church
  9. ↑ Chinchilla de Montearagón - Ceramic Museum
  10. ↑ Chinchilla de Montearagón - winery