Hita (Spain)

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Hita parish
Hita - aerial view with castle hill
Hita - aerial view with castle hill
coat of arms Map of Spain
Coat of arms of Hita
Hita (Spain) (Spain)
Finland road sign 311 (1994-2020) .svg
Basic data
Autonomous Community : Castile-La Mancha
Province : Guadalajara
Comarca : La Alcarria
Coordinates 40 ° 49 ′  N , 3 ° 3 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 49 ′  N , 3 ° 3 ′  W
Height : 850  msnm
Area : 56.49 km²
Residents : 294 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density : 5.2 inhabitants / km²
Postal code : 19248
Municipality number  ( INE ): 19138
administration
Website : Hita

Hita is a central Spanish town and a municipality ( municipio ) with a total of 294 inhabitants (as of January 1 2019) in the province of Guadalajara in the autonomous region of Castile-La Mancha . In 1965 the historical center of the village was recognized as the Conjunto histórico-artístico . The municipality is located on the Camino del Cid and belongs to the sparsely populated region of the Serranía Celtibérica .

Location and climate

The almost 850  m high place Hita is located in the north of the southern part of the Iberian plateau ( meseta ) . The provincial capital Guadalajara is approx. 27 km (driving distance) in a south-westerly direction; the lovely town of Brihuega is located about 28 km to the east. The climate in winter is temperate, while in summer it is warm to hot; the rather low amounts of precipitation (approx. 435 mm / year) fall - with the exception of the almost rainless summer months - distributed over the whole year.

Population development

year 1857 1900 1950 2000 2019
Residents 973 941 677 257 294

Due to the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the resulting loss of jobs, the population of the municipality has declined sharply since the middle of the 20th century ( rural exodus ). In 1973 the hamlet of Padilla de Hita , located about 8 km to the northeast and only counting about 20 inhabitants, was incorporated.

economy

Hita - Plaza del Arcipreste with the city gate Puerta de Santa María
Hita - Iglesia de San Juan Bautista

The people of earlier centuries lived mainly as self-sufficiency from agriculture and livestock farming , whose durable products (cheese, sausage, animal skins and wool) could be exchanged or sold at traveling traders.

history

The Romans already used the location as a guard on the road from Emerita Augusta ( Mérida ) to Caesaraugusta ( Saragossa ). In the 8th century, the Arabs and Moors took over rule, which was only established in the second half of the 11th century by King Alfonso VI. could be driven out of the region again by León ( reconquista ) . In the subsequent period of repopulation ( repoblación ) of the area by Christians from the north and south of the Iberian Peninsula , the place whose manorial rule (señorio) has been from the house since about 1430 by Iñigo López de Mendoza , the Marques de Santillana , was probably also created Mendoza was exercised. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) the city was badly affected.

Attractions

  • Only sparse remains of the former castle (castillo) on the hill have survived. There was possibly a Moorish watchtower ( atalaya ) on the site , which disappeared during the rebuilding of the fortress by the Marques of Santillana.
  • During this time, the city ​​wall was built , of which remains and the city gate of the Puerta de Santa María , which was restored in 1965, with the stone coat of arms of the House of Mendoza have been preserved.
  • The Iglesia de San Juan Bautista is a Mudejar-style building from around 1500. The exterior walls show the style-typical interplay between brick masonry and panels with quarry stone masonry . The bell tower (campanario) , built from precisely hewn stones, was built around 50 years later. The interior of the church has three aisles ; all three naves and even the apse are covered by simple artesonado wooden ceilings. In the Capilla de la Virgen is the figure of the Virgen de la Cuesta , the patron saint of the place.
  • Only ruins remain of the Iglesia de San Pedro , the former main church of the village, which was destroyed in 1937 .

Personalities

  • Juan Ruiz (around 1283 – around 1350), poet, also called "Archpriest of Hita" (Arciprestre de Hita)

literature

  • Manuel Criado de Val: Historia de la villa de Hita y de su arcipreste . Eds. Aache, Guadalajara 1998, ISBN 978-84-87743-90-0 .

Web links

Commons : Hita, Guadalajara  - 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. ↑ Hita - Camino del Cid
  3. ↑ Hita - climate tables
  4. ↑ Hita - population development
  5. ↑ Hita story
  6. ↑ Hita - castle ruins
  7. ↑ Hita - castle
  8. ↑ Hita - Puerta de Santa María
  9. ↑ Hita - Church of San Juan Bautista
  10. ↑ Hita - Church of San Juan Bautista
  11. ↑ Hita - Church of San Pedro