Villar de Corneja

Villar de Corneja municipality
Villar de Corneja - stone slab footbridge
coat of arms	Map of Spain
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Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and Leon
Province :	Ávila
Comarca :	El Barco de Ávila - Piedrahíta
Coordinates	40 ° 29 ′  N , 5 ° 26 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 29 ′  N , 5 ° 26 ′  W
Height :	1001  msnm
Area :	6.88 km²
Residents :	33 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	4.8 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	05516
Municipality number  ( INE ):	05261
administration
Website :	Villar de Corneja

Villar de Corneja is a place and a municipality ( municipio ) in northern Spain with 33 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the province of Ávila in the autonomous community of Castile-León .

location

The place Villar de Corneja is located in a fertile valley basin above the Río Corneja in the Sierra de Gredos at an altitude of approx. 1000 m above sea level. d. The neighboring town of Piedrahíta, which is worth seeing, is only about ten kilometers to the east. The distance to the northeastern provincial capital Ávila is a good 70 km (driving distance); the city of Salamanca is just under 80 km to the north-west. The climate in winter is cool, in summer it is quite warm despite the altitude; the low amounts of precipitation (approx. 465 mm / year) fall - with the exception of the almost rainless summer months - distributed over the whole year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	225	331	339	77	37

The sharp population decline since the 1950s is essentially due to the mechanization of agriculture and the associated loss of jobs.

economy

Agriculture, especially cattle breeding, traditionally plays the largest role in the economic life of the small mountain community. Income from tourism in the form of renting out holiday homes ( casas rurales ) has increased over the last few decades.

history

Celts , Romans , Visigoths and Arabs or Moors left no traces. It was probably shepherds who discovered the high valley. After the repopulation ( repoblación ) of the area between the Duero and Tagus rivers in the 11th and 12th centuries, Villar belonged to the diocese of Ávila . After his abdication in Brussels and on his way from Valladolid to the monastery of Yuste , Emperor Charles V stopped in Villar in November 1556.

Village church

Claw stand ( potro )

Attractions

• The three-aisled church of Santa Marina in the village dates from the middle of the 17th century; The year 1650 is carved on one of the supporting beams of the artesonado ceiling. The flatly closing apse is windowless and blocked by a late Baroque altarpiece with twisted Solomonic columns in the Churriguerist style from 1704, which was made by the carver Manuel González Delgado, who created several altars in the valley of the Río Corneja. At the eastern ends of the two side aisles there are carved altars that are stylistically similar but around 50 years younger. The bell gable , which was probably stabilized and enlarged in the 19th or early 20th century, has a strange effect .
• In the outskirts of the village there is still a fitting device (potro de herrar) , as it used to be seen in many villages in Europe. Here the horses were tied with ropes or belts before being shod; The hoof care of cows and donkeys was sometimes done here. Another frame of this type has been preserved in the neighboring village of Malpartida de Corneja .
• Upstream there is a two-arched medieval bridge (puente romano) over the Río Corneja.
• Down the river there is a footbridge made of large stone slabs , which, however, has to be checked and repaired again and again after heavy rainfalls with corresponding debris.

Curiosity

Since 2004, the beginning of the New Year has been celebrated in Villar de Corneja on New Year's Eve at 12 noon. The reason is the very high average age of the residents - they want to sleep long after midnight. The villagers celebrate the early “New Year” together with visitors on the main square of the village.

Web links

Commons : Villar de Corneja  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Villar de Corneja - Photos + Info (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. ↑ Villar de Corneja - map with altitude information
3. ↑ Villar de Corneja - climate tables
4. ^ Villar de Corneja - population development
5. ^ Villar de Corneja - Iglesia de Santa Marina
6. ↑ Spanish village celebrates the New Year at 12 noon. On: Spiegel online , December 31, 2018 (accessed: January 2, 2018)