Pastrana (Castile-La Mancha)

Pastrana municipality
	Pastrana - town view
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile-La Mancha
Province :	Guadalajara
Comarca :	La Alcarria
Coordinates	40 ° 25 ′ N , 2 ° 55 ′ W Coordinates: 40 ° 25 ′ N , 2 ° 55 ′ W
Height :	755 msnm
Area :	95.7 km²
Residents :	850 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	8.88 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	19100
Municipality number ( INE ):	19212
administration
Website :	Pastrana

Pastrana is a small town in central Spain and a municipality ( municipio ) with only 850 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the province of Guadalajara in the autonomous region of Castile-La Mancha . The place was recognized as a Conjunto histórico-artístico because of its cultural heritage in 1966 . The municipality belongs to the poorly populated Serranía Celtibérica .

Location and climate

Pastrana, about 755 m high, is located in the north of the southern part of the Iberian plateau (meseta) . The provincial capital Guadalajara is a good 45 km (driving distance) northwest; the city of Madrid is about 90 km to the west. The climate in winter is temperate, while in summer it is warm to hot; the rather low amounts of precipitation (approx. 475 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	2,308	2,551	2,943	1,128	850

As a result of the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the resulting unemployment in the countryside, the population of the municipality has decreased significantly since the middle of the 20th century ( rural exodus ).

economy

Agriculture played the most important role in the economic life of the municipality (agriculture, cattle breeding as well as wine and olive cultivation), which in earlier centuries mainly served for self-sufficiency . But also small traders and craftsmen have settled in the village since the end of the Middle Ages.

history

The origins of the place probably go back to the Celtic - Iberian times. Around 180 BC BC it was conquered and destroyed by the Romans, but rebuilt a century later under the name of Paternina . Visigothic and even Moorish traces are missing. Perhaps the new site first arose in the process of repopulation ( repoblación ) after the reconquest ( reconquista ) of Toledo in 1085. In 1174 he became the Castilian King Alfonso VIII. The Order of Calatrava passed as a fief; under Henry II he received town charter (villa) in 1369 . Against the opposition of the population, Doña Ana de la Cerda, the grandmother of Ana de Mendoza y de la Cerda , the princess of Eboli, acquired the city in 1541, which in 1572 was made a duchy (ducado) by Philip II . During this time the ducal palace (Palacio Ducal) , which was unadorned on the outside, was built .

Attractions

Pastrana - Ducal Palace (Palacio Ducal)

Pastrana carpet: storming Asilah

The most impressive building of the town is undoubtedly the mid-16th century by the architect Alonso de Covarrubias in Herrera style planned Ducal Palace . With the exception of the rather small Renaissance portal, the completely unadorned facade is framed by two protruding corner projections that are slightly raised compared to the main building . Inside there are several different artesonado ceilings and wall tiles ( azulejos ) from the construction period.

The Collegiate Church (Colegiata de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción) was built in the 13th century as the Church of the Calatrava Knights. The late Gothic north portal with its overlay - centered arch was added in the 15th century. In the 17th century, Archbishop Pedro González de Mendoza, a son of the Princess of Eboli, had the church expanded and completely redesigned inside - an inner choir ( coro ) and an altarpiece (retablo) were added. The famous Pastrana carpets from around 1475, which were made for the Portuguese King Alfonso V (r. 1449–1481) in Flanders and show scenes of the conquest of the cities of Asilah and Tangier in what is now Morocco , can be seen in an annex building . They probably came to the country during the personal union of Portugal with Spain (1580–1640).

The Convento de San José , formed from several older houses, was created in 1569 as a result of the collaboration between Theresa von Ávila and the Duchess.

In the center of the village there are several aristocratic palaces from the 16th to 18th centuries (Casa del Concejo , Casa de Moratín , Casa del Deán , Casa de Caballero Calatravo) .

The Convento de San Francisco was founded around 1460 on the outskirts. Worth seeing are of brick masonry cloister wing (claustro) and the bell tower (espadaña) of the church.

Surroundings

The huge monastery complex of the Convento del Carmen was built in 1569 on a mountain slope about 1.5 km south of the city.

literature

Aurelio García López: El Palacio Ducal de Pastrana Aache Ediciones, Guadalajara 2010, ISBN 978-84-92886-12-8 .
D. Mariano Perez y Cuenca: Historia de Pastrana y Sucinta Noticia de Los Pueblos. BiblioBazaar 2009, ISBN 978-1103374847 .