El Barco de Ávila

El Barco de Ávila is a centrally Spanish municipality ( municipio ) in the province of Ávila in the Autonomous Community of Castile -Leon. The old center was classified as a cultural ( Bien de Interès Cultural ) in the category Conjunto histórico - artístico.

Location

El Barco de Ávila is located on a slight hill above the Río Tormes in the Sierra de Gredos nearly 85 km ( driving distance ) southwest of the provincial capital Ávila; the city of Salamanca is about 90 km in a north-westerly direction away. The also featured neighboring Piedrahíta is just 21 kilometers north-east.

Demographics

In the 19th century the population was stable at about 1,500 people.

Economy

The agriculture, especially livestock, traditionally the largest role in the economy of the mountain community, which was also a regional center for trade and commerce in ancient times for the hamlets and isolated farmsteads in the area. Revenue from tourism in the form of the rental of apartments ( casas rurales ) have been added in recent decades.

History

The first traces of settlement date back to pre-Roman times ( Vettones ); Roman and Visigoth traces have not yet been discovered. During the Islamic rule over large parts of the Iberian Peninsula, the area was depopulated; it was repopulated in the 11th and 12th centuries ( repoblación ). Maybe in the 11th century, the manorial Señorío de Valdecorneja, El Barco de Ávila who also belonged arose. This came into the possession of the house Álvarez de Toledo, emerged from the in 1465 the Dukes of Alba, who resided mainly in Alba de Tormes and Madrid in the 15th century. In 1833 the city came under a territorial reform of the province of Salamanca in the province of Ávila.

Attractions

  • The Plaza de España, the main square, is the actual center of the old town; he stood by arcades houses that protected the visitors both from rain and from too strong sunlight. The Casa de Reloj dates from the 18th century and served to councils; it has a clock on the front and a bell on the roof.
  • The Assumption Church (Iglesia Mayor de la Asunción ) is a Gothic building dating from the 13th/14th. Century, which incorporates one or the Romanesque style attributable to the west tower. On the south side of a multi- tiered Archivolts portal leads into the nave and two aisles, which is spanned by simple four-part rib vaults; the three apses of the east side are separated by a wrought iron fence ( reja ) in the style of the Renaissance of the nave. The carved baroque altarpiece has two windows internals and is of opposite twisted columns (also called " Solomonic pillars" called ) framed. About a baptismal font a rather simple panel painting from the 15th century is associated with a representation of Jesus' baptism in the Jordan.
  • The Castillo de Valdecorneja towers over the Río Tormes and dates in its present form from the 14th century. It is a square building with round corner towers and a square keep ( torre de homenaje ) in the east.
  • From the former city wall only, but there is a gate with side round towers.
  • About the Río Tormes performs a 125 -meter-long arch bridge ( puente romano ), which is returned to the local tradition of Roman origin. However, the present bridge dates from medieval times and was later restored several times and provided some with long-span arches. The upstream facing pier caps are - for better dissipation of driftwood - pointed.

Gastronomy

The Judión de Barco is a hearty bean stew with sausage and / or meat inlay.

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