Salas de los Infantes

Salas de los Infantes is a municipality ( municipio ) with 2130 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2013) in the northern Spanish province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castile -Leon.

Location

Salas de los Infantes lies in the valley of the River Arlanza on the southern edge of the Sierra de la Demanda at an altitude of about 980 meters above sea level. inst. , the nearest big city of Burgos is about 58 km in a north-westerly direction away.

Demographics

The continuing immigration from the - partly entirely discontinued - villages of the mountainous regions of the Sierra de la Demanda has been recorded since the 19th century, a steady population growth.

Economy

As the inhabitants of most mountain towns in northern Spain, including the Salensos lived for centuries by a self-catering from livestock (sheep and goats) and a little agriculture (barley and wheat). From the milk of animals a tough cheese was made, who was sometimes sell in the markets of distant cities. The same is true for the sheep wool, which was also needed for the production of their own clothing; from the goats' hair ropes etc. were braided. This small town also served as a regional crafts, trade and service center. In the second half of the 19th and the first half of the century, many immigrants tried their luck as a miner in the mines (iron, copper, lead and coal ) of the environment. In October 2008, opened a factory for the production of wood fiber boards. Meanwhile the day and weekend tourism and rental of holiday homes ( casas rurales ) play a significant role in the economic life of the village.

History

The place in the context of re-colonization ( repoblación ) establishment of Salas in the 974 goes back to the Castilian Count García Fernández. The additional de los Infantes received the place until the late Middle Ages, in memory of the partially lay narratives of the, Seven Infantes of Lara ', said to have been beheaded by Almanzor, the leader of the Moors in the period around the year 1000; their seven heads are also found in the city arms again. In the 19th and early 20th centuries the city experienced a brief heyday through the ore and coal mining in the Sierra de la Demanda.

Attractions

• The partially man-made caves of Peñarota evidence of archaeologists, according to the presence of hermits from the 8th to the 11th century.
• The portal and unadorned western facade of on a previous Romanesque in the 15th century, newly built late Gothic parish church (Iglesia de Santa Cecilia ), whose apse and nave walls by - partly baroque -looking - are stabilized buttresses, dominated by a bell gable ( espadaña ). The portal with its profiled Archivolts arches is - as with many churches in northern Spain usual - on the south side of the church.
• Front of the church stands a monolithic and - because of the clearly recognizable Entarsis - possibly ancient column with a baroque cross.
• Built in the 15th and 16th centuries spanned by ribbed vaults three-aisled hall Renaissance church of Santa María makes a distinctly prestigious impression that is reinforced by the originating from the same time main altar with scenes from the life of Mary.
• The two-storey and provided with a fine continuous balcony on the front facade of the arcades on aufruhenden town hall ( ayuntamiento ) from the 16th/17th stands in the Plaza de Armas. Century.
• On a hill about two and a half kilometers outside the town are the remains of a medieval castle rise (Castillo de Castrovido ).
• Inaugurated in 2001, the Museo de Salas is mainly dedicated to the presentation and exploration of dinosaur track finds in the area.