Medina de Pomar

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Medina de Pomar municipality
Medina de Pomar - Alcazar de los Condestables de Castilla
Medina de Pomar - Alcazar de los Condestables de Castilla
coat of arms Map of Spain
Medina de Pomar coat of arms
Medina de Pomar (Spain)
Finland road sign 311 (1994-2020) .svg
Basic data
Autonomous Community : Castile LeonCastile and León Castile and León
Province : Burgos
Comarca : Las Merindades
Coordinates 42 ° 56 ′  N , 3 ° 29 ′  W Coordinates: 42 ° 56 ′  N , 3 ° 29 ′  W
Height : 606  msnm
Area : 214.2 km²
Residents : 5,728 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density : 26.74 inhabitants / km²
Postal code : 09500
Municipality number  ( INE ): 09209
administration
Website : Medina de Pomar

Medina de Pomar is a city and an approx. 214 km² large municipality (municipio) with 5,728 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the north of the Spanish province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castile-León . The old town of Medina de Pomar has been classified as a cultural asset ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) in the conjunto histórico-artístico category.

Location and climate

Medina de Pomar is located between the Río Trueba and the Río Nela at an altitude of about 600  m . The distance to the southern provincial capital Burgos is approx. 80 km (driving distance); the next larger city is Miranda del Ebro (approx. 64 km southeast). The climate in winter is harsh, but in summer it is temperate and warm; Rain (approx. 860 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year 1857 1900 1950 2000 2018
Residents 2,878 2,284 3,100 5,166 5,816

Since the end of the 19th century, the number of inhabitants has risen steadily, mainly as a result of immigration from the rural areas in the area ( rural exodus ).

economy

The soils and the climate in the area are well suited for growing wheat, potatoes, vegetables and fruit trees; Livestock breeding plays a subordinate role. Tourism and numerous small businesses otherwise determine the economic life of the city center. In the north, on the road to Bilbao , 85 km away , the Las Navas industrial park has been designated.

history

Alcazar de los Condestables de Castilla
Iglesia de Santa Cruz
Monasterio de Santa Clara
Altarpiece
Ermita de San Millan
Santuario de Nuestra Señora del Salcinar y del Rosario

Of Celtiberians , Romans and Visigoths to date archaeological remains missing. The name medina ("city") indicates a Moorish origin, but it was probably the Christian Mozarab who brought the name to the north in the 10th, 11th or 12th centuries. In the course of the reconquest ( reconquista ) of the area, the place became royal property. However, Henry II gave it away in 1369 to his chamberlain Pedro Fernández de Velasco , who laid the foundation for the successful development of the Velasco House through his work and his possessions . Medina de Pomar once had an important Jewish quarter ( judería ) .

Attractions

  • The city fortress of Medina de Pomar (Alcázar de los Condestables de Castilla , often just called Las Torres ) was built in the second half of the 14th century under Pedro Fernández de Velasco. The mighty building is not - like most castles of the time - overlooked by a keep (torre de homenaje) , but by two side towers, the ground floor of which served as a guard area, while the two upper floors - provided with windows - were used for residential purposes. The actual representation and reception rooms were located in the lower central wing. In 1896 the building was donated to the city by the Velasco family who converted it into a museum (Muséo Histórico de las Merindades) at the end of the 20th century .
  • The three-aisled parish church (Iglesia parroquial de Santa Cruz) was founded in the 14th century and rises on the highest point of the city. Inside it makes an overall Gothic impression; the showpiece of its furnishings, the large late Gothic altarpiece from around 1500, comes from the church of Salinas de Rosío . A baroque portico was added to the outside . Because of its good acoustics, concert evenings are held in the church more often.
  • In the heart of the old town there are still remnants of the city walls with round towers and three rather inconspicuous gates.
  • The church of the former Convento de San Pedro de la Misericordia in the north of the city , which was donated in 1562, houses a large altarpiece and several smaller altarpieces in the side chapels.
  • The walled monastery (Monasterio de Santa Clara) used to be a little outside the city and was surrounded by fields. Since the 19th century, however, the urban area has expanded more and more, so that the monastery moved to today's southern outskirts. It was founded in 1313 by Sancho Sánchez de Velasco , the general and adviser to the Castilian kings Ferdinand IV and Alfonso XI. and his wife Doña Sancha García to the Order of the Poor Clares . The monastery essentially consists of the church, the convent buildings including the cloister (claustro) and the family grave of Íñigo Fernández de Velasco y Mendoza and his wife María Tovar y Vivero . The single-nave church dates back to the 14th century, but was rebuilt in the early 16th century and added chapels; the pyramidal altarpiece (retablo) dates from the 17th century . The inner choir (coro) with its elegant octagonal star vault is separated from the rest of the church by a display wall ( trascoro ) ; here are the marble portraits of Íñigo Fernández de Velasco y Mendoza and his wife, who - kneeling between their lecterns - are depicted in eternal adoration. The coats of arms of the House of Velasco are spread over the entire interior of the church . The former chapter house (sala capitular) of the monastery has been converted into a museum for sacred art. a. the paintings of an Adoration of the Magi from the 15th, a Holy Family with St. Anna from the early 17th century and the wooden figure of a reclining Christ ( Cristo yacente ) by Gregorio Fernández , from the 17th century.
  • Of the small hermit chapel (Ermita de San Millán) from the end of the 12th century, only the well-preserved Romanesque apse and the south wall of the nave remain . With its quarry stone masonry , which is reinforced and structured by four buttresses made of precisely hewn stone , it is the oldest church in the city. The apse window is only slit-shaped, but is accompanied both inside and outside by two squat-looking columns with capitals , the simple design language of which is repeated on the two capitals of the triumphal arch between the nave and apse. The building is now used as the Centro de Interpretación del Románico de Las Merindades .
  • The church of Santuario de Nuestra Señora del Salcinar y del Rosario is located in the southeast of the city, about 250 m northeast of the chapel. It is dedicated to the Madonna of the Rosary , the patron saint of the city, and many important citizens were buried inside or outside the church. Only a few parts of the originally single-nave structure date from the 13th century (some Romanesque capitals are still preserved); It was not until the 16th century that the church received its current three-aisled shape. The interior is largely from the Baroque period and includes a colored carved retable and an organ from 1770. The west portal shows a multi-tiered Gothic portal wall , which however has neither a tympanum nor arched archivolts ; instead, the portal ends with an unusual and improvised-looking segment arch . The tower is made entirely of stone; however, the bell chamber with sound openings on all sides is much younger and shows clear Renaissance style features .

Daughters and sons of the city

Web links

Commons : Medina de Pomar  - 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. ↑ Medina de Pomar - climate tables
  3. ↑ Medina de Pomar - population development
  4. ↑ Medina de Pomar - History