Villacastín

Villacastín municipality
Villacastín - Iglesia de San Sebastian
coat of arms	Map of Spain
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Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and León
Province :	Segovia
Comarca :	Tierras de Segovia
Coordinates	40 ° 47 ′  N , 4 ° 25 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 47 ′  N , 4 ° 25 ′  W
Height :	1099  msnm
Area :	109.57 km²
Residents :	1,481 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	13.52 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	40150
Municipality number  ( INE ):	40225
administration
Website :	Villacastín

Villacastín is a Spanish town and municipality (municipio) in the province of Segovia in the autonomous region of Castile and León . It is recognized as a national cultural asset ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) in the Conjunto histórico-artístico category .

Location and climate

Villacastín is located on the northern edge of the Iberian Scheidegebirge between the often snow-capped mountains of the Sierra de Gredos in the west and the Sierra de Guadarrama in the east about 36 km (driving distance) southwest of the provincial capital Segovia at an altitude of about 1100  m directly on the main traffic connection between the cities Northwest Spain (e.g. Valladolid , Salamanca , Zamora ) and the greater Madrid area . Because of the altitude, the climate is cool in winter, but mild to warm in summer; Rain (approx. 425 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2018
Residents	1,499	1,416	1,577	1,506	1,493

Despite the mechanization of agriculture and the abandonment of small farms since the middle of the 20th century, the population of the small town has remained essentially constant.

economy

In earlier centuries Villacastín was the artisanal and mercantile center of a large number of individual farmsteads (fincas) and small villages (pedanías) in its agrarian surrounding area.

history

Even the Romans used a nearby spring and turned it into a cattle trough. Visigothic and later Arab-Berber conquerors plundered and destroyed the few towns and villages in the area. The Christian population retreated to the north ( Asturias , Galicia ), from where they gradually returned to their old homeland. In 939, the Caliph of Cordoba, Abd ar-Rahman III. at the head of an army again in the area and devastated it. After that there was a tense calm and only after Almansor's advances towards the end of the 10th century, which apparently did not affect the area, did the repopulation ( repoblación ) by the Christians again. The first documented mention of Villacastín comes from 1096, which rivaled Segovia in the high and late Middle Ages and annexed the neighboring town of Navalpino in 1450 . Construction of the mighty church began in 1529; the year of its completion is unknown. In 1627 Villacastín was granted city rights , but Spain's heyday was almost over by that time.

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Villacastín - town view

Attractions

Interior of the San Sebastián Hall Church

• Several houses with stone heraldic shields bear witness to the past importance of the place. There are also fountains, small hermit chapels (e.g. Virgen del Carrascal ) etc.
• The most important building in the village is the hall church of San Sebastián , which was built in the first half of the 16th century . Sometimes the Hieronymite monk Antonio de Villacastín, who was born in Villacastín and later worked on the construction of the Escorial , is believed to be the architect of the building, but he was only 17 years old when construction began (1529). Nevertheless, the strict and poorly structured facade design of the church is surprising, which stands in clear contrast to the more structured choir and nave and is in some respects quite related to the rather strict Herrera style ; Since the year of the end of the construction work is unknown, a later completion of the facade would be conceivable - with knowledge and adoption of the construction principles implemented at the Escorial . Incidentally, a two-tower facade was planned, but only the south tower was built. The three-aisled interior of the church impresses with its high Gothic bundle pillars, which fan out to star vaults at a height of about 15 m , which cover all three naves equally and reach apex heights of just over 20 m. The huge altarpiece is from the end of the 16th century; its installation was not originally planned. Several smaller altars, a carved and painted pulpit made of stucco and a sloping Romanesque baptismal font from a previous building are also among the treasures of the church furnishings .

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  Main altar

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  Francis altar

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  Stucco pulpit

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  Romanesque baptismal font

• Several coats of arms in front of a concealed cross of the Order of Santiago or a wayside cross, which - according to tradition - was supposed to bid the Santiago Knights farewell to the south, recall the centuries-long but ultimately victorious battles against the Moors during the Reconquista .

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  Coat of arms with Santiago cross

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  dto.

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  crossroads

Web links

Commons : Villacastín  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Villacastín, buildings - photos + information (Spanish)

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. ↑ Villacastín - climate tables
3. ^ Villacastín - history
4. ↑ Villacastín - Church