Villena

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Villena municipality
Villena - Castillo de la Atalaya
Villena - Castillo de la Atalaya
coat of arms Map of Spain
Coat of arms of Villena
Villena (Spain)
Finland road sign 311 (1994-2020) .svg
Basic data
Autonomous Community : Valencia
Province : Alicante
Comarca : Alto Vinalopó
Coordinates 38 ° 38 ′  N , 0 ° 52 ′  W Coordinates: 38 ° 38 ′  N , 0 ° 52 ′  W
Height : 510  msnm
Area : 345.37 km²
Residents : 33,964 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density : 98.34 inhabitants / km²
Postal code : 03400
Municipality number  ( INE ): 03140
administration
Website : Villena
town hall
Palace of the "Selva" family, today a retirement home
Museo del Festero

Villena is a city and a municipality ( municipio ) with 33,964 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the province of Alicante in the autonomous region of Valencia in southeastern Spain . The city lies on the Ruta de la Lana , a medieval trade and pilgrimage route. The old town quarter at the foot of the castle has been classified as Conjunto histórico-artístico since 1968 .

Location and climate

Villena is located in the headwaters of the Río Río Vinalopó and at the foot of the San Cristóbal Mountain at an altitude of approx. 510  m . The climate in winter is temperate, while in summer it is warm to hot; the rather low amounts of precipitation (approx. 420 mm / year) fall - with the exception of the almost rainless summer months - distributed over the whole year.

Population development

year 1857 1900 1950 2000 2019
Residents 10.178 14,099 19,994 31,760 33,964

Due to immigration from rural regions as a result of the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the resulting loss of jobs, the population of the municipality has increased significantly since the beginning of the 19th century ( rural exodus ).

economy

In the past the city was mainly agrarian and, to a lesser extent, mercantile-oriented, today trade, craft, industry and the service sector play the dominant roles; most important products are furniture and shoes. The city has been on the Spanish railway network since 1858, but also on the motorway network through the new Autovía A-31 .

history

The area around Villena was settled around 50,000 years ago. The Bronze Age gold deposit Tesoro de Villena was discovered in 1963 and is an expression of the importance in the El Argar culture and its elaborate metallurgical craft. No major settlements are known from the Iberian and Roman times.

Villena may have existed before the rule of the Visigoths , may be mentioned in the 713 AD contract between Abd al-Aziz and Teudemir , but in any case existed since the 11th century at the latest, when it belonged to the Moorish Taifa kingdom of Valencia . In 1240 it fell back into Christian hands during the Reconquista , when it was recaptured from the Moors on behalf of King Jacob I of Aragon. The city fell to Castile , but was also claimed by Aragón , which led to border conflicts between these two powers.

At the beginning of the 1250s, Villena became the seat of a manor (señorío) , which the Castilian King Alfonso X gave to his younger brother, the Infante Manuel of Castile . He passed it on to his son Juan Manuel , who was raised to Duke (Duque de Villena) in the 1330s . His son Fernando Manuel was second Duke of Villena from 1348 until his death in 1350, whereupon his daughter Blanka Manuel succeeded him as Duchess (Duquesa) . In 1361 Juan Manuel's daughter Juana Manuel became Duchess of Villena. She was married to the later Castilian King Henry II . With their approval, Henry II, who wanted to strengthen his party through donations during his civil war against Peter the Cruel , awarded Villena in 1366 to Alfonso of Aragón with the title of Marquisate (Marquesado de Villena) . Alfonso ceded the Marquisate to his son Pedro, who became the second Marquès de Vilena , but fell in the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385, long before his father's death . Pedro's son Enrique de Villena was a writer, but also known for his interest in magic and astrology .

After Alfonso of Aragón was ousted, the Marquesado de Villena fell back to the Castilian crown. But in 1445, it was after the first battle of Olmedo by the Castilian King John II. To Juan Pacheco awarded. Because his son Diego Lopez Pacheco y Portocarrero in Castilian war of succession but Juana la Beltraneja supported, conquered troops of the Catholic Monarchs in 1476, the Mark county, which has now been withdrawn permanently from the crown. Nevertheless, the Dukes of Escalona could continue to hold the title of Marquis of Villena .

In 1525, Emperor Charles V granted Villena town rights. In the War of the Spanish Succession , the city sided with Philip V ; their castle, Castillo de la Atalaya , was besieged in vain by the Allies in 1707. A devastating earthquake struck here in 1829 .

Attractions

  • The old town of Villena, the Centro histórico , extends around the castle (Castillo de Atalaya) and most of the city's monuments are concentrated there. At the Plaza de Santiago you can read the different epochs of the city's history.
  • The Palacio Municipal was built in the 16th century; Today it houses a large part of the town hall (Casa Consistorial) and the Archaeological Museum . There is the Treasure of Villena (Tesoro de Villena) , an important archaeological bundle from the Bronze Age, consisting of approx. 60 individual objects made of gold, silver, iron and amber.
  • The Castillo de la Atalaya was built by the Almohads around 1200 as part of a series of defensive castles, but was completely rebuilt at the beginning of the 14th century by the Infante Don Juan Manuel . It consists of two rows of walls, with the large tower ( atalaya = "watchtower") protruding inside. The ribbed vaults of the first two rooms are particularly noteworthy ; together with those of the neighboring castle of Biar, they are the oldest of their kind in Spain.
  • The Iglesia de Santiago was built in the 14th century and is one of the most important late Gothic and Renaissance complexes in the region. Its three-aisled floor plan and its twisted columns (as in the fish markets of Valencia and Mallorca's cathedral ) are typical of the late Gothic architecture in the Mediterranean region.
  • The Teatro Chapí is named after the composer Ruperto Chapí, who died in 1909; it was inaugurated on December 5, 1925. The variety of architectural styles stands out: the two side facades and the box area still retain the taste of the historicist modernism of the neo-Greek slopes, while the main facade, which was built between 1922 and 1923, shows classicist forms.

Festivals

  • Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos : The "Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos " take place every year from September 4th to 9th . These fiestas go back more than two centuries and are based on the conquest of the city in 1240. This reconquista is traditionally represented with exhibition fights: The dramaturgy consists in the conquest of a city by the Moors and their reconquest by the Christians. It is a folk festival in the truest sense of the word: over 15,000 people take part, including over 80 music bands ( Bandas de Música ). The population is divided into two large groups who slip into medieval costumes to represent Christians and Moors. Their robes are splendid and imaginative costumes. One of the most important events is the performance of the “Conversion of the Moors to Christianity”, a spectacle that takes place on September 8th in the Church of St. James.
  • Fiestas del Medievo: Since 2001 the “Fiestas del Medievo” have been taking place in the Barrio del Rabal district (in the old town), a three-day event that includes a medieval market with parades, concerts, theater plays, falconry demonstrations and much more. Weddings are also celebrated in a medieval atmosphere. In 2015 there was an influx of more than 70,000 visitors.
  • Leyendas del Rock: The festival for heavy metal and hard rock fans has been held annually in Villena since 2013.

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Villena  - 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. Villena - climate tables
  3. ^ Villena - population development
  4. Villena - Centro histórico
  5. ^ Villena - Palacio Municipal
  6. ^ Villena - Castillo
  7. ^ Villena - Castillo
  8. ^ Villena - Santiago Church
  9. Villena - Theatro Chapí
  10. http://fiestasdelmedievo.com/
  11. Homepage Festival Leyendas del Rock: Homepage Festival Leyendas del Rock. Retrieved January 6, 2020 (Spanish).