Torrijos (Toledo)

Torrijos municipality
	Torrijos - Colegiata del Santísimo Sacramento
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile-La Mancha
Province :	Toledo
Comarca :	Torrijos
Coordinates	39 ° 59 ′ N , 4 ° 17 ′ W Coordinates: 39 ° 59 ′ N , 4 ° 17 ′ W
Height :	530 msnm
Area :	17.34 km²
Residents :	13,466 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	776.59 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	45500
Municipality number ( INE ):	45173
administration
Website :	Torrijos

Torrijos is a city and a municipality in central Spain ( municipio ) with 13,466 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the Spanish province of Toledo in the autonomous region of Castile-La Mancha ; it is the capital of the comarca of the same name .

Location and climate

The city of Torrijos is located in a fertile valley basin a good 30 km northwest of Toledo and approx. 80 km southwest of Madrid at an altitude of approx. 530 m . The city is well connected to the Madrid area via the A-40 ( Autovía de Castilla-La Mancha ) and the Madrid – Cáceres railway line. The climate in winter is harsh, but in summer it is dry and warm; the sparse rain (approx. 380 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter months.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	2,599	2,923	4,432	10,041	13,295

Since the middle of the 19th century, the small town has seen steady population growth; Since the beginning of the 21st century, the city has benefited from the comparatively low property prices in the countryside and the good transport links to the greater Madrid area.

economy

The area around Torrijos was and is essentially agricultural, with viticulture and olive tree plantations playing important roles; the small town itself served as a craft and mercantile center for the surrounding villages. In the meantime, smaller companies in the construction industry, furniture production and iron processing have also settled here.

history

Tomb of Don Gutierre de Cárdenas and his wife Doña Teresa Enríquez

Artesonado dome from the Palacio de Altamira in Torrijos (today in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional de España in Madrid)

Although virtually no prehistoric , Celtic , Roman , Visigothic and Moorish finds have been made, the presence of settlers and soldiers in the region is likely. In 1085 it was by Alfonso VI. recaptured ( reconquista ) , but shortly afterwards threatened again by the Berber Almoravids . It was not until Alfonso VII (reigned 1126–1157) that the La Mancha region finally became Christian around 1130. In the 12th and 13th centuries the place was mentioned several times under the names Torrilium , Torrilios or Torrillos ; After the victorious battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), King Alfonso VIII gave it to the Archbishop of Toledo . The place took off after Gutierre de Cárdenas , a loyal follower and advisor of Isabella of Castile, acquired the manor (señorio) from the crown in 1482 . In the following years he had a magnificent palace (palacio) built, whereas his wife Doña Teresa Enríquez, after his death (1503), commissioned the building of the collegiate church in which the couple are buried; she also founded a hospital. A large Jewish community lived in the city, but it was evicted in 1609, causing a huge demographic and economic slump.

Attractions

The collegiate church (Colegiata del Santísimo Sacramento) built between 1509 and 1518 is an important building from the period of transition from Gothic to Renaissance ; Some researchers ascribe it to the architect Antón Egas , who was involved in several of the most important buildings of his time around 1500. While the side buttresses on the exterior are still strongly Gothic, the portal and bell tower (campanario) are more of a renaissance style overall. In the three-aisled interior of the church, the Gothic predominates at first glance ( bundle pillars , star vaults ), but the Renaissance character dominates both in the structure and in the panel paintings of the three altarpieces (retablos) from the 1560s. In the inner choir ( coro ) is the double tomb with the reclining figures of the donor couple.

The Palacio de Don Pedro de Castilla was built in the years after 1355 by Peter I of Castile for his lover and second wife María de Padilla (1334-1361), one of the most famous female figures in Spanish history. Don Gutiérrez de Cárdenas had it rebuilt at the end of the 15th century; his wife donated it to the Order of Conceptionists, which had recently been founded . Since 2001 it has served as the town hall (ayuntamiento) of the city.

The Palacio de Altamira , which has an area of more than 8000 m², was built and splendidly furnished by Don Gutierre de Cárdenas and his wife Doña Teresa Enríquez at the end of the 15th century. At the beginning of the 20th century it was sold and demolished; only a few Artesonado ceilings or domes have been preserved and are distributed over several museums etc.

The Capilla del Cristo de la Sangre was built by Doña Teresa Enríquez at the beginning of the 16th century as an annex to the hospital she founded; the latter is almost destroyed.