Oña (Burgos)

Oña municipality
Oña - town center
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and León
Province :	Burgos
Comarca :	La Bureba
Coordinates	42 ° 44 ′  N , 3 ° 25 ′  W Coordinates: 42 ° 44 ′  N , 3 ° 25 ′  W
Height :	598  msnm
Area :	161.64 km²
Residents :	1,017 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	6.29 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	09530
Municipality number  ( INE ):	09238
administration
Website :	Oña

Oña is a northern Spanish city and a municipality ( municipio ) with 1,017 inhabitants (at January 1, 2019) in the north of the province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon . The historic town center is recognized as a cultural asset ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) in the Conjunto histórico-artístico category .

Location and climate

The place Oña is located on a 50 m high hill above the Río Oca at an altitude of about 600  m . The city of Burgos is about 70 km (driving distance) in a south-westerly direction. The closest town is Briviesca (approx. 26 km south); the listed town of Frías is about 25 km to the east. The climate in winter is harsh, but in summer it is temperate and warm; Rain (approx. 750 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	1,154	1,515	1,727	1,620	1,043

Through the incorporation of several villages and hamlets , the population was kept stable between 1,500 and 1,700 people in the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th century. A renewed incorporation of more distant villages took place in 1980. However, the mechanization of agriculture and the abandonment of small farms led to a decline in the population towards the end of the 20th century.

economy

In earlier times, Oña was the mercantile and craft center of a large number of villages, hamlets and farmhouses in the agricultural area. Apart from the usual small businesses (bakers, butchers, hairdressers, car workshops, etc.), tourism now plays a not insignificant role for the town's income.

history

In caves in the area, prehistoric evidence of the temporary presence of humans has been found. The sources are silent about the settlement of the area in the Celtiberian , Roman , Visigothic and Islamic times. In 950 Fernán González , the first largely independent count of Castile , granted the place its first privileges ( fueros ). His nephew Sancho García (r. 995-1017) was exposed to renewed Islamic attacks under Almansor († 1002); During his reign, Oña received further privileges and the confirmation of old customary rights. Sancho García is also considered to be the founder of the Benedictine monastery of San Salvador , whose abbots were later the landlords ( señores ) of the place. King Alfonso VIII (reigned 1158–1214) confirmed the privileges granted at the time.

Attractions

Staircase and portico in front of the church

Cloister

Abbot's grave in the cloister

San Salvador

The monastery of San Salvador , founded by Sancho García in 1011 and occupied by Cluniac monks a good 20 years later (1033), is located on the highest point of the small town and can only be reached via wide flight of stairs and a portico decorated with figures , which is Romanesque in the lower part and in the upper part Part, however, shows late Gothic or Renaissance elements. To the right of the staircase is a round tower that served as a prison (carcel) for repeatedly unruly and disobedient monks. The monastery is a large building complex consisting of a church, cloister and cloister , which has been constantly rebuilt and changed since its foundation - the buildings got their current appearance in the Baroque period . Only the interior of the 83 m long, 20 m wide and 18 m high three-aisled church is from the late Gothic period (15th century); it contains a double row of walnut stalls and a figure of a crucified Christ (11th century) from the church in the abandoned village of Tamayo . The cloister (clausto) may have been by the architect Simon of Cologne designed († 1511 in Burgos), but not running in a construction phase - his basement with a rich late Gothic Flamboyant - tracery , but also with Maßwerkquadraten in the north wing, built in the 16th century ; the upper floor was not completed until a century later. An artistically and technically perfect alabaster tomb for the abbot Pedro López de Mendoza from 1564 is placed in the center of the south wing.

Pantheon

The pantheon of the kings and counts of Castile in the monastery church is of great historical importance - here you can find the sarcophagi of Sancho García (995-1017 Count of Castile), García Sánchez (1017-1029 Count of Castile), Sancho II. (1065 –1072 first king of Castile), Sancho III. (1000-1035 King of Aragon and Navarre ), members of their families and several infants .

San Juan

The parish church of San Juan has a Romanesque tower. Its interior, however, has a Gothic design and houses a Gothic crucifixion group ( calvario ) from the 13th century.

additional

• Several noble houses with stone coats of arms bear witness to the former wealth of some families and the importance of the place in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period.
• The Arco de la Estrella is the only preserved medieval entrance to the city. Only remnants of the city fortifications can be found in the immediate vicinity.

literature

• Eduardo Rojo Díez: Oña y su monasterio en el pasado de Castilla. 2009, ISBN 978-84-613-1837-7 .

Web links

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

• Oña, website of the city - photos + information (Spanish)
• Oña, sights - video + 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. ↑ Oña - climate tables
3. ↑ Oña - population development
4. ^ Oña story
5. ↑ Oña - monastery
6. ↑ Oña - monastery
7. ↑ Oña - monastery
8. ↑ Oña - Sights