Gradefes

Gradefes municipality
	Gradefes - hamlet of Valdealcón
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and León
Province :	Leon
Comarca :	Vega del Esla
Coordinates	42 ° 37 ′ N , 5 ° 14 ′ W Coordinates: 42 ° 37 ′ N , 5 ° 14 ′ W
Height :	850 msnm
Area :	205.86 km²
Residents :	954 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	4.63 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	24160
Municipality number ( INE ):	24079
administration
Website :	Gradefes

Gradefes is a place and one from the main village and several hamlets (Pedanías) existing northern Spanish village with 954 inhabitants (at January 1, 2019) in the province of León in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon .

Location and climate

Gradefes lies on the middle reaches of the Río Esla at an altitude of approx. 850 m ; the provincial capital León is about 38 km (driving distance) to the west. The climate in winter is harsh, but in summer it is rather dry and warm; Rain (approx. 590 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	3,765	4,307	4,383	1,342	966

The mechanization of agriculture and the abandonment of small farms have triggered a rural exodus, as a result of which the population of the municipality has continuously declined since the middle of the 20th century.

economy

For centuries Gradefes was a rural community whose inhabitants provided for themselves with food; only butter and cheese could be sold in León markets, but this involved time-consuming journeys to and from the city. The situation only improved with the development of the infrastructure in the 20th century. Tourism has been of greater importance since the 1970s; several houses are rented out as holiday apartments (casas rurales) .

history

Gradefes and its surroundings were already in the 9th / 10th. Century from the hands of the Moors reconquered ( reconquista ) and of Christians from the north and south of the Iberian Peninsula populated ( repoblación ) ; the latter were called Mozarabs .

Attractions

Gradefes

On the northeastern outskirts of the Gradefes in the 1160s in is Romanesque style built Cistercian - Kloster Santa María la Real . Church, cloister (claustro) and chapter house (sala capitular) are among the most beautiful of their kind in the Spanish Middle Ages.