Leza

Municipality of Leza / Lezako
Leza - town view
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Basque Country
Province :	Álava
Comarca :	Cuadrilla de Laguardia-Rioja Alavesa
Coordinates	42 ° 34 ′  N , 2 ° 38 ′  W Coordinates: 42 ° 34 ′  N , 2 ° 38 ′  W
Height :	569  msnm
Area :	9.92 km²
Residents :	203 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	20.46 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	01309
Municipality number  ( INE ):	01034
administration
Website :	Leza / Lezako

Leza ( Basque : Lezako ) is a place and a municipality ( municipio ) with 203 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the province of Álava in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country in northern Spain . The place belongs to the wine-growing region Rioja Alavesa .

Location and climate

The place Leza is located at an altitude of about 570  m in the southwest of the province of Álava near the border with the autonomous community of La Rioja . The closest major city is Logroño , about 25 km (by car) to the southeast ; the lovely small town of Laguardia , to which Leza belonged until the 17th century, is located a good 5 km southeast. The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 635 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2018
Residents	493	461	400	208	196

The phylloxera crisis in viticulture, the mechanization of agriculture and the resulting loss of jobs have led to a continuous decline in the number of inhabitants since the middle of the 20th century.

economy

In the early centuries, the self-sufficient residents lived mainly from the agricultural products of the surrounding area, including wine. The place itself, located at the intersection of several paths, functioned as a market and trade center, but craftsmen also settled here. A lung sanatorium was built in the 1930s . The increasing importance of viticulture and wine tourism in the Rioja Alavesa has had a positive effect on employment again in recent decades.

history

Two large stone graves ( dolmens ) testify to the presence of people in the 4th millennium BC. Chr .; Celts , Romans , Visigoths and Moors , on the other hand - despite the proximity to the Ebro Valley - left no archaeologically usable traces on the municipal area. The place probably first arose in the course of recapturing ( reconquista ) and resettlement ( repoblación ) of the occupied territories from the Moors in the 10th and 11th centuries. The place is mentioned for the first time under the medieval spelling Leça in the 10th century; in 1666 the Spanish King Charles II granted him city ​​rights .

Attractions

San Martín Church

• The parish church (Iglesia de San Martín) is an imposing building made of precisely hewn stones from the 16th to 18th centuries. The west facade is completely unadorned; the late Gothic portal on the south side closes with a basket arch ; in the tympanum above there is an equestrian statue of St. Martin . Above the portal zone there is a kind of walkway with arched openings from which there is a good overview of the surrounding area. The bell tower ( campanar ), which is square below but octagonal above, is also on the south side at the end of the single nave nave; the apse is broken polygonally. A certain defensive character cannot be denied to the building.

Surroundings

• The two megalithic passage graves (Layaza and El Sotillo) belong to the Ruta de los dólmenes ; However, they are poorly preserved - the cap stones are completely missing.

Web links

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

• Leza - photos + info (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. ↑ Leza - climate tables
3. ↑ Leza - population development