Medinaceli

Medinaceli municipality
	Medinaceli - town view
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and Leon
Province :	Soria
Comarca :	Comarca de Arcos de Jalón
Coordinates	41 ° 10 ′ N , 2 ° 26 ′ W Coordinates: 41 ° 10 ′ N , 2 ° 26 ′ W
Height :	1205 msnm
Area :	205.37 km²
Residents :	713 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	3.47 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	42240
Municipality number ( INE ):	42113
administration
Website :	Medinaceli

The ancient triumphal arch is the symbol of the city

Medinaceli - Plaza Mayor

Medinaceli - Colegiata de Nª Señora de la Asunción

Church of the Convento de Santa Isabel

Medinaceli (Roman: Occilis , Arabic مدينة سالم, DMG Madīnat Sālim ) is a place and a municipality (municipio ) consisting of several hamlets (pedanías) with a total of 713 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the south of the province of Soria in the autonomous community of Castile-León in Spain . The historical town center was classified as a cultural asset ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) in the conjunto histórico-artístico category. The place is on the Camino del Cid .

Location and climate

The historic center of Medinaceli is located on a castle rock a good 76 km (driving distance) south of the provincial capital Soria at an altitude of about 1205 m ; The train station is about 50 m below, around which a new part of the city (Barrio nuevo) with economic and administrative institutions has developed. The town of Sigüenza, which is well worth seeing, is only approx. 30 km to the south-west. The Río Jalón runs only approx. 1 km east of the village. The climate is harsh in winter, but temperate to warm in summer; Rain (approx. 540 mm / year) falls over the year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	1,393	1,046	809	701	744

As a result of the increasing drought, the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of numerous small farms and the resulting lower demand for labor, the number of inhabitants has steadily declined since the beginning of the 20th century; Stabilization only took place at the beginning of the 21st century.

economy

Agriculture, including dairy and pasture farming, played the most important role in the community's predominantly self - sufficient economic life for centuries . In the village itself, traders, craftsmen and service providers of all kinds have settled, who had to be supplied by the farmers - there were street markets for this purpose. The improvement of the infrastructure in the 20th century led to a regionalization of the sales markets. Since the 1970s tourism has become increasingly important in economic life.

history

There may have been a settlement of the Celtiberian Beller tribe on the castle hill . The Romans occupied the place in the Celtiberian War (193-178 BC) and called it Occilis ; Under the Romans, the place experienced an economic and cultural heyday. There are no Visigothic traces. In the 8th century, Arab-Moorish armies overran almost the entire Iberian Peninsula ; however, they were pushed back to the Duero border in the 10th and 11th centuries . In the years 1128/29, Alfonso I of Aragon (ruled 1104–1134) recaptured the area around Medinaceli for the Christians as part of the Reconquista . The Counts of Medinaceli have existed since 1368, and in 1479 the Catholic Kings Isabella and Ferdinand conferred the ducal dignity of them .

Attractions

The Roman triumphal arch , which was probably built in the 1st century AD and is generally rather unadorned, is the city's landmark; it is 13.20 m wide, 8.20 m high and 2.10 m deep. It is the only three-sided arch of honor from Roman times in Spain.

About 150 m west of it is the Plaza de San Pedro , where parts of a Roman floor mosaic have been uncovered.

On the opposite side of the castle rock, the largely reconstructed Castillo rises at the site of a Moorish fortress (hisn) .

The single-nave collegiate church of the Nª Señora de la Asunción was built around the middle of the 16th century. The late baroque high altar in the style of Churriguerism is remarkable . The tombs of the first dukes are in a side chapel.

The approximately 5000 m² Plaza Mayor with its arcade houses is one of the most beautiful squares in Old Castile .

Here also built in the 16th century former is granary (alhóndiga) of the city, whose two-storey arcaded facade enriched the image of the square.

The Ducal Palace (Palacio Ducal) is a 17th century work; its architect was Juan Gómez de Mora , whose work can be assigned to the late Herrera style and who had already designed and built the almost identical Ducal Palace of Lerma a few years earlier together with his father . The interior has been transformed into a museum of modern art.

On the north side of the Plaza Mayor is the Aula Arqueológica de Medinaceli , an interesting city history museum.

The Convento de Santa Isabel belonged to the Order of the Poor Clares and was built in the 16th century. The single-nave church has 5 impressive baroque carved altars.

The Palacio de los Marqueses de Casablanca with its two-part quarry stone facade is also an impressive building from the 16th century.

On the outskirts is the Ermita del Humilladero , built in the 16th century .

“Toro Júbilo” festival

The city gained worldwide fame for the “Toro-Júbilo” festival. In this spectacle, a frame with balls or balls made of tar and other combustible material is tied to the head of a living bull. The balls or balls are set on fire. Then the bull runs across a square for general amusement. Many animal welfare associations and organizations are storming this event and describe the festival as animal cruelty and a "barbaric act".