Villasayas

Villasayas municipality
Villasayas - Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción
coat of arms	Map of Spain
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Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and León
Province :	Soria
Comarca :	Arcos de Jalón (Comarca)
Coordinates	41 ° 34 ′  N , 3 ° 12 ′  W Coordinates: 41 ° 34 ′  N , 3 ° 12 ′  W
Height :	1030  msnm
Area :	61.76 km²
Residents :	67 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	1.08 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	42214
Municipality number  ( INE ):	42212
administration
Website :	Villasayas

Villasayas is a northern Spanish city and a municipality ( municipio ) with only 67 inhabitants (at January 1, 2019) in the southern province of Soria in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon . The place belongs to the poorly populated Serranía Celtibérica . The Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción is one of the outstanding Romanesque church buildings in northern Spain and is recognized as a cultural asset ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) .

Location and climate

The place Villasayas is located on the upper reaches of the Río Escalote at an altitude of about 1030  m in the mountain landscape in the south of the province of Soria. The provincial capital Soria is about 55 km north; the historically and culturally significant town of Medinaceli is located about 35 km to the south-east. The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 495 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	600	445	372	99	71

The continuous decline in population is due to the abandonment of small farms and the increasing mechanization of agriculture .

economy

The people of Villasayas were and still are highly dependent on agriculture, with agriculture as well as cattle and dairy farming. Cultural and hiking tourism have also played a not unimportant role in the economic life of the municipality since the 1970s.

history

After its repopulation ( repoblación ) in the 11th and 12th centuries, the place experienced a certain boom, which lasted into the 19th century. In the 1960s, the neighboring municipality of Fuentegelmes , with around 30 inhabitants, was incorporated.

Attractions

Portico with the Annunciation scene above the portal

Only attraction of the place is that of the Assumption of Mary consecrated Romanesque church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción . It is one of the easternmost churches in Spain with a south porch ( portico or galería porticada) . This consists of two side wings, each opened by four arcade arches , and a central portal, above which an annunciation group consisting of the archangels Michael , Mary and Joseph , depicted as an old man - asleep and leaning on a stick - is attached. The capitals of the vestibule resting on double pillars show various bird creatures and foliage. The central archivolt of the portal , which is protected from the weather by the vestibule, also shows bird- and dragon-like beings, which, in connection with their location , must be regarded as disastrous ( apotropaic ). The apse of the church was rebuilt in the 16th century in the late Gothic or Renaissance style ; the nave was given a baroque interior design in the 18th century - it contains several carved altarpieces from this period, two of them with " Solomonic columns " in the Churrigueresque style .

Web links

Commons : Villasayas  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Villasayas, place and feast day of the Virgen del Rosario - 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. ↑ Villasayas - climate tables
3. ↑ Villasayas - climate tables
4. ↑ Villasayas Church
5. ↑ Villasayas Church
6. ↑ Villasayas - porch of the church