Roa (Burgos)

Roa parish
	Roa - Ex Colegiata Santa María
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and León
Province :	Burgos
Comarca :	Ribera del Duero
Coordinates	41 ° 42 ′ N , 3 ° 56 ′ W Coordinates: 41 ° 42 ′ N , 3 ° 56 ′ W
Height :	825 msnm
Area :	48.92 km²
Residents :	2,183 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	44.62 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	09300
Municipality number ( INE ):	09321
administration
Website :	Roa

Roa is a place and a municipality ( municipio ) with 2,183 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the south of the Spanish province of Burgos in the autonomous region of Castile-León .

Location and climate

The place Roa is located in the Iberian Meseta on the north-western bank of the Río Duero at an altitude of about 825 m . The provincial capital Burgos is located approx. 85 km (driving distance) northeast; the city of Aranda de Duero is a good 22 km to the east. The climate is temperate to warm; the rather sparse rain (approx. 455 mm / year) falls - with the exception of the summer months - over the year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	2,861	2,794	3,080	2,249	2,262

As a result of the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the resulting lack of jobs even in the small towns, the population experienced a slump in the middle of the 20th century.

economy

From the Middle Ages to the first half of the 20th century, the place was the artisanal and mercantile center of several villages and individual farms in the area. Today - in addition to viticulture in the classified wine-growing region Ribera del Duero - grain cultivation and tourism in the form of renting holiday apartments are the most important sources of income for the municipality.

history

The place was originally a settlement of the Celtic Vaccaei and was then called Rauda . After the Roman conquest of Hispania , it belonged to the province of Hispania Tarraconensis . Visigothic and even Moorish traces are missing. At the beginning of the 10th century the Moors were pushed back to the areas south of the Duero by the Castilian counts Gonzalo Fernández de Burgos and Fernán González ( reconquista ) ; thereafter a policy of repopulation ( repoblación ) was carried out in the areas north of the Duero . At the end of the 10th century, the Muslim military leader Almansor devastated the region for the last time. Due to its border position to the Muslim sphere of influence and supported by royal privileges ( fueros ) , Roa developed splendidly in the 12th and 13th centuries. Henry IV gave the city as a gift to his favorite Beltrán de la Cueva in the 15th century .

Attractions

Colegiata de Santa María

Only small parts of the city wall (muralla) built in the late 13th century have survived . Some rock cellars ( bodegas ) remind of the long winemaking tradition of the place.

The three-aisled collegiate church of Santa María is an important hall church from the middle of the 16th century; it stands on the site of a previous Romanesque building, of which the walled-up west portal is still preserved. The soaring, laterally sloping south portal is entirely in the Renaissance style, whereas the interior of the church combines both Gothic star vaults and Renaissance elements ( fluted columns). The crucifix in the main altar is a work of the 13th century.

Only ruins remain of the late Romanesque church of San Juan - including those of a portal.

The Iglesia de San Esteban was completed in 1611. The single-nave church has a squat bell tower (campanario) but only a very cautiously designed portal. Inside there are several baroque carved altars.