Santiago Millas

Santiago Millas Municipality
Hamlet of Valdespino de Somoza
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and León
Province :	Leon
Comarca :	Maragatería
Coordinates	42 ° 23 ′  N , 6 ° 6 ′  W Coordinates: 42 ° 23 ′  N , 6 ° 6 ′  W
Height :	1000  msnm
Area :	39.69 km²
Residents :	338 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	8.52 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	24732
Municipality number  ( INE ):	24161
administration
Website :	Santiago Millas

Santiago Millas is a northern Spanish city and one from the main village and several hamlets (Pedanías) existing municipality ( municipio ) with 338 inhabitants (at January 1, 2019) in the Comarca of Maragatería in the province of León in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon .

Location and climate

The six villages or hamlets of the municipality (Barrio de Abajo , Morales del Arcediano , Oteruelo de la Valduerna , Piedralba , Santiago Millas and Valdespino de Somoza) are located in the east of the Montes de León at altitudes between 900 and 1000  m . The distance to Astorga is about 10 km (driving distance) in a north-easterly direction; the city of León is about 61 km northeast. The climate in winter is harsh, but in summer it is dry and warm; Rain (approx. 620 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	1,599	1,742	1.006	351	338

Because by the mechanization of agriculture triggered and the abandonment of small farms rural exodus , the population of the community since the mid-20th century is continuously declining.

economy

Until the mid-20th century, the residents of the community lived mainly as a self from the field economy and of some livestock; some of them also made some money as carters. Today many empty houses are rented out as holiday apartments ( casas rurales ).

history

The Romans were gold prospectors in the region. Visigoths and Moors , on the other hand, have left no archaeologically usable traces. The place is mentioned for the first time in 1334; since the Middle Ages, the area around Santiago Millas belonged to the manor ( señorio ) of the diocese of Astorga .

Attractions

Morales del Arcediano Church

• The mostly single-storey older houses in the various villages were all built from rubble stones ; they have only a few and mostly small windows, which in earlier times were not glazed but closed with wooden shutters. A few two-story houses have a south-facing wooden balcony .
• The mostly single-nave parish churches and hermitages (ermitas) were also mostly built from rubble stones and usually have the entrance and a vestibule ( portico ) on the south side and a bell gable (espadaña) or even a bell tower (campanario) in the west - otherwise it was largely dispensed with external decor.
• There is a wagon museum (Museo de la Arriería) in the village .

Personalities

Great respect in the region and beyond enjoyed a native of Santiago Millas Santiago Alonso Cordero (1791-1865), known as Maragato Cordero , not only because of his struggle against the Napoleonic troops , but because he in Madrid as a deputy in the Cortes , which he Has belonged since 1836, regardless of the current fashion, appeared in traditional Maragat costume.

Web links

Commons : Santiago Millas  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Santiago Millas - Photos + Info (Spanish)
• Santiago Alonso Cordero - Photos + Info (Spanish)
• Santiago Millas - Photos

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. ↑ Santiago Millas - Climate tables
3. ↑ Santiago Millas - Population Development