Orba, Alicante

Orba is a municipality in the province of Alicante in Spain.

Geography

Orba is located about 15 km inland from the district capital Dénia vis -à-vis Ibiza. The little river Girona crosses the municipality of Orba.

History

The origin of the place name accepts two theories. Once it could be from the language of the Iberians come and have originally gelautet Ur - Obia. This is to mean something like ' place at the foot of a mountain, rises to the water ". On the other, but the name could derive much later the name of the Berber tribe of the Auraba. This had settled in the area since the beginning of the Moorish conquest of Spain in 711. In the Moorish era, the economic development Orbas goes back. Apart from agriculture, mainly pottery and ceramic crafts could claim today. High above the town, on the Monte de Adroberes, stand the remains of the ruins of the Castillo d' Orba, which once also supervised access to the Vall de Laguart. The former castle dates from the 13th century, the year of the Reconquista, the reconquest of Spain by the Aragonese King James I. Orbas The coat of arms dates back to the heraldry of 1238.

However, the population Orbas remained even after the Christian reconquest of Spain in 1492 largely Moorish. They needed the Moors for the time being, especially on the food supply and Maintenance of the complex irrigation system of agriculture. 1609 gave King Philip III. the order for the final expulsion of the Moors now forcibly baptized. Thousands, mostly women and children who had taken refuge in the mountains of the Vall de Laguart were massacred there. More than 47,000 of them were shipped from the port of Dénia to Oran. Thus ending over 800 years of peaceful coexistence between Muslims, Christians and Jews in the area.

This expulsion led to the depopulation of the entire region. An economic disaster was the result. Only years later brought settlers from the neighboring Christian communities Murla and Pego and Mallorca life back into the valley. Today Orba is with 2570 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2013) a community living in about half of newcomers from all over Europe.

622817
de