Loeches

Loeches municipality
Loeches - Carmelite Convent (Convento chico)
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Madrid
Province :	Madrid
Comarca :	Cuenca del Henares
Coordinates	40 ° 23 ′  N , 3 ° 25 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 23 ′  N , 3 ° 25 ′  W
Height :	645  msnm
Area :	44.06 km²
Residents :	8,791 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	199.52 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	28890
Municipality number  ( INE ):	28075
administration
Website :	Loeches

Loeches is a city and a central Spanish municipality ( municipio ) with 8,791 inhabitants (as of January 1 2019) to the east of the Community of Madrid in the transition to the autonomous region of Castile-La Mancha . Loeches is part of the Alcarria cultural landscape .

Location and climate

The approx. 645  m high town of Loeches is located in the Iberian Highlands ( meseta ) southwest of the Castilian Scheidegebirge . The Spanish capital Madrid is located almost 30 km (driving distance) to the west. The climate in winter is temperate, while in summer it is warm to hot; the rather low amounts of precipitation (approx. 450 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	771	946	948	2,984	8,791

Due to its location in the greater Madrid area, the population of the municipality has grown enormously since the end of the 20th century.

economy

Loeches was dominated by agriculture for centuries; the people lived largely as a self-sufficient source of income from the surrounding fields and house gardens. In the meantime, an industrial area has been designated.

history

Scanty small finds from the Celtic and Roman times have been made in the municipality, but these cannot yet be interpreted as evidence of human settlement. After the recapture ( reconquista ) of the areas north and north-east of Toledo in 1085 by Alfonso VI. of León began a phase of repopulation ( repoblación ) by Christians from all parts of the Iberian Peninsula , of which the Basques probably made up the largest proportion. The place name 'Loeches', which is unusual in Castilian , is derived from the Basque words lo ("sleep") and etxe ("house"). The Archbishop of Toledo , Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada , placed the area under his sphere of influence. It was not until 1555 that the place received town charter (villazgo) , but a year later Philip II (ruled 1556–1598) sold the place and its surrounding area to Baltasar Castaño, a Genoese merchant, for around 6.8 million maravedis . In 1583 the place was sold to the Cárdenas y Zapata family, who, however , had to give way to the Duke of Olivares in 1633 .

Attractions

Monastery of the Immaculate Conception

• The construction of the three-portal and three-aisled city ​​church (Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción) began around 1560. Inside, slender columns support the low-hanging wooden vault. During the Napoleonic Wars , the church was used as a prison (prisión) .
• In 1596, the Cárdenas family donated the Carmelite Monastery (or Convento chico ) in the north of the old town , which is largely built in a pure Mudéjar style from bricks with enclosed fields of lighter quarry stones . The bell gable (espadaña) placed across the church is striking
• The nearby Convent of the Immaculate Conception (Monasterio de la Inmaculada Concepción , also called Convento grande ) was founded in 1640 by Gaspar de Guzmán , Duke of Olivares, the leading minister of Spain during the reign of King Philip IV ; The building complex was completed around 20 years later by his nephew Luis Méndez de Haro y Guzmán . With the exception of the Renaissance facade, it is also a building with Mudejar elements. At the end of the 17th century, numerous paintings and other art treasures were transferred from the property of the dukes, but they were brought to Paris by the French occupying forces. Some later came into the possession of the National Gallery in London or the USA.

Web links

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

• Loeches, history and sights - photo + short 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. ↑ Loeches / Madrid - climate tables
3. ↑ Loeches - population development
4. ↑ Loeches - parish church
5. ↑ Loeches - parish church
6. ^ Loeches - Convento chico
7. ↑ Loeches - monastery