Monteagudo de las Salinas

Monteagudo de las Salinas municipality
Monteagudo - townscape with castle ruins (castillo)
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Help on coat of arms
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile-La Mancha
Province :	Cuenca
Comarca :	Serranía Media
Coordinates	39 ° 48 ′  N , 1 ° 54 ′  W Coordinates: 39 ° 48 ′  N , 1 ° 54 ′  W
Height :	1005  msnm
Area :	132.28 km²
Residents :	129 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	0.98 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	16360
Municipality number  ( INE ):	16131
administration
Website :	Monteagudo de las Salinas

Monteagudo de las Salinas or Monteagudo for short is a place and a municipality ( municipio ) with a total of only 129 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the north of the province of Cuenca in the autonomous region of Castile-La Mancha . Monteagudo was on the Ruta de la Lana , a once important trade and pilgrimage route that led from Alicante to Burgos ; Here a secondary route (Camino de Requena) coming from Valencia meets the main route. Today the municipality belongs to the sparsely populated region of the Serranía Celtibérica .

Location and climate

The place Monteagudo is located on the west side of the Iberian Mountains at an altitude of 1005  m . The provincial capital Cuenca is a good 47 km (driving distance) to the northwest. The climate in winter is temperate, while in summer it is warm to hot; the rather low amounts of precipitation (approx. 515 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	493	570	555	134	129

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 ).

economy

Also because of the altitude of the community, for centuries the economy was essentially based on self-sufficiency ; urban markets were almost inaccessible. Agriculture was only possible to a very limited extent in the mountainous and rocky landscape; Therefore, the focus was primarily on livestock farming , the long-term products of which (cheese, meat, wool and animal skins) were sometimes bought up and traded on by traveling traders. In addition, there was once significant salt production for the region .

history

Not much is known about the history of the place; Iberian , Roman , Visigoth and even Islamic-Moorish finds were not made. One must therefore assume that the high-lying area was not populated until around the year 1000 and only served as a summer pasture. The castle is first mentioned in a document from 1187. After the reconquest ( reconquista ) of the city of Cuenca and its surroundings by the troops of Alfonso VIII of Castile in 1177, the highlands also seem to have been settled.

Attractions

• The remains of the 14th / 15th centuries standing on a hill The castle (castillo) , renovated in the 19th century , is still remarkable.
• The most important attraction of the place is the Iglesia de El Salvador , built in the 16th century and dedicated to "Christ the Redeemer" . With the exception of the precisely hewn corner stones , it is built from rubble stones and has a bell gable (espadaña) and a polygonal broken apse . The interior of the church has a single nave and is covered by an open roof structure .

Surroundings

• Approx. 2 km from the village are the remains of the formerly economically important basins for salt production.

Web links

Commons : Monteagudo de las Salinas  - 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. ↑ Monteagudo / Cuenca - climate tables
3. ^ Monteagudo - population development
4. ↑ Monteagudo - Castle
5. ↑ Monteagudo - Castle
6. ↑ Monteagudo - Saline