Sepúlveda (Segovia)

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Sepúlveda municipality
Sepúlveda - town view
Sepúlveda - town view
coat of arms Map of Spain
Sepúlveda coat of arms
Sepúlveda (Segovia) (Spain)
Finland road sign 311 (1994-2020) .svg
Basic data
Autonomous Community : Castile LeonCastile and León Castile and León
Province : Segovia
Comarca : Villa y Tierra de Sepúlveda
Coordinates 41 ° 18 ′  N , 3 ° 45 ′  W Coordinates: 41 ° 18 ′  N , 3 ° 45 ′  W
Height : 1009  msnm
Area : 132.1 km²
Residents : 1.003 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density : 7.59 inhabitants / km²
Postal code : 40300
Municipality number  ( INE ): 40195
administration
Website : Sepúlveda

The small town of Sepúlveda is the capital of the central Spanish municipality of the same name ( municipio ) with a total of 1,003 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the province of Segovia in the autonomous community of Castile-León . The old town of Sepúlveda is recognized as a national cultural asset ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) in the Conjunto histórico-artístico category .

Location and climate

Sepúlveda is located on a ridge above the Duratón and Caslilla rivers, almost 60 km (driving distance) northeast of Segovia at an altitude of around 1000  m . It is approx. 125 km south to the Spanish capital Madrid . The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 475 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year 1857 1900 1950 2000 2017
Residents 1,920 2,273 1,513 1,318 1.105

Despite the incorporation of several previously independent villages in the 1960s and 1970s, the population has steadily decreased.

economy

For centuries, Sepúlveda was the religious, political, craft and economic center of a large area that extends far beyond the boundaries of today's community. In recent years, day and weekend tourism has been added as a source of income for the place; Apartments (casas rurales) are also rented out.

history

The evidence of the settlement history goes back to the Iron Age; later the culture of the Celtiberians developed . The Romans conquered under the leadership of the consul Titus Didius in the years 98-93 BC. Large parts of the Iberian Peninsula , but whether a larger settlement was established at this place is controversial due to a lack of finds; There is also a lack of archaeologically usable evidence from the Visigothic period - with the exception of the necropolis in the suburb of Duratón . During the Islamic epoch, the entire area north of the Duero was only briefly in the hands of the Moors and then - after the reconquest ( reconquista ) - as good as depopulated. In the beginning of the 10th century, the Castilian Count Fernán González made a contribution to the repopulation ( repoblación ) of the area. In the years 979-1002 various advances by Almansor , the de facto ruler of the Caliphate of Córdoba, interrupted the further advance of the Christians south for a while, but in 1010 the area around Sepúlveda was finally in Christian hands and became the Castilian Count Sancho García , a nephew of Fernán Gonzalez. After that, the city essentially shared the fortunes and history of Castile and Spain.

Attractions

Plaza Mayor with the ruins of the Castillo
Old town streets with wayside cross
Sepúlveda
  • The entire old town with its stairs and alleys is recognized as a national cultural asset ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) . The center of the old town is the Plaza Mayor, surrounded by old stone houses .
  • The church of San Salvador stands on the highest point of the city and is possibly the oldest still existing building in the medieval city history of Sepúlveda and at the same time one of the oldest churches south of the Duero. It is often dated to the end of the 11th century, although it already has a south porch (portico or galería porticada) , as it should be typical for many churches in the province of Segovia - but due to the alternation between mighty pillars and double arcades, this is far from having an effect as elegant as, for example, the vestibules of the church of San Miguel Arcangel in Sotosalbos, about 40 km to the south-west, which are at least 40 to 50 years younger, or that of the church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in the suburb of Duratón, just 7 km to the east. The apse with its almost walled up window arcades is structured by pillars. The massive church tower rises free-standing on the north side. Medieval stonemason marks can be seen on many of the bricked-up stones .
  • According to an inscription in the north tower, the church dedicated to the Virgen de la Pena dates from the middle of the 12th century. It has - a rarity in central Spain - on its south side a Romanesque tympanum depicting Christ in a diamond-shaped mandorla , which is surrounded by the evangelist symbols . The whole is framed by three archivolts , one of which shows the elders of the Apocalypse (see Last Judgment ). The lintel in which angels hold a labarum in the form of a wheel is also interesting .
  • Santos Justo y Pastor (often just called San Justo ) is another Romanesque church with beautiful capitals in the interior and a crypt with three apses - extremely rare in Spain . The church has been converted into a museum of Christian art (Museo de los Fueros ) .
  • The Romanesque church of San Millan has been entered on the “Red List of Endangered Cultural Assets” because of its neglected condition.
  • The same applies to the Castillo de Fernán González in the Plaza Mayor .
Duratón
Perorrubio
  • The same applies to the church of San Pedro Advincula in the suburb of Perorrubio, about 8 to the south-east .
Aldehuela
  • The Romanesque church of San Esteban in the hamlet of Aldehuela , just under 12 km to the north-west, is also one of the architectural pearls of the region.

Web links

Commons : Sepúlveda  - 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. ↑ Sepúlveda - Population Development
  3. ↑ Duratón - Church
  4. ↑ Perorrubio - Church
  5. ↑ Perorrubio - Church
  6. ↑ Aldehuela Church