Sepúlveda, Segovia

The small town of Sepúlveda is the capital of the homonymous Spanish community ( municipality ) in the province of Segovia in the autonomous community of Castile -Leon. The old town of Sepúlveda is recognized as a national treasure ( Bien de Interès Cultural ) in the category Conjunto histórico - artístico.

Location

Sepúlveda is situated on a mountain ridge above the river Caslilla nearly 60 km ( driving distance ) northeast of Segovia at an altitude of around 1000 meters above sea level. inst. Pending the Spanish capital Madrid is about 125 km to the south.

Demographics

In the years 1857 and 1970 were assigned to several hitherto independent villages the municipio of Sepúlveda.

Economy

Sepúlveda was in the Middle Ages and in modern times for centuries the religious, political, craft and economic center of a large area, which extends far beyond the boundaries of the church today. In recent years, the daily and weekend tourism has been added as a source of income of the village.

History

The evidence of the city's history dates back to the Iron Age; later, the culture of developed Celtiberian. The Romans conquered under the leadership of Consul Titus Didius in the years 98-93 BC large parts of the Iberian Peninsula, but whether that time a larger settlement was already at this place is controversial due to lack of finds; also from Visigothic period missing archaeological recyclable products. In the Islamic era, the entire area between the rivers Duero and Tajo in the north to the south was only briefly in the hands of the Moors and after - begun reconquest ( Reconquista ) - virtually depopulated. In the early 10th century, the Castilian Count Fernán González made ​​to the re-colonization ( repoblación ) of the area deserves. In the years 979-1002 interrupted verschiedentliche advances Almansor, the de facto ruler of the Caliphate of Córdoba for a while the further advance of the Christians to the south, but in 1010 the area around Sepulveda was finally in Christian hands and became the Castilian Count Sancho García, a nephew of Fernán Gonzalez awarded. After that, the city was divided essentially the history of Castile and Spain.

Attractions

• The entire old town, with its staircases and alleyways is recognized as a national treasure ( Bien de Interès Cultural ). Center of the old town is the umstandene of old stone houses Plaza Mayor.
• The San Salvador church stands on the highest point of the city and is possibly the oldest existing building in the medieval town of Sepúlveda history and one of the oldest churches in the south of the Duero. It is often dated to the outgoing 11th century, although it already has a south porch ( portico or galería Porticada ), as it should be typical of many churches in the province of Segovia - by alternating between massive pillars and double arcades these acts but not far as elegant as, for example, at least 40 to 50 years younger lobbies of some 40 kilometers south-west distant church of San Miguel Arcangel in Sotosalbos or that of the church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in just six kilometers east suburb Duratón. The apse, with its almost walled-up windows arcades is divided by pillars templates. The massive church tower rises a detached house on the north side. In many walled medieval stonemason stones characters are seen.
• The Virgen de la Pena consecrated church comes from - an inscription in the north tower, according to - the middle of the 12th century. It has - a rarity in central Spain - on its south side a Romanesque tympanum depicting Christ in a diamond-shaped mandorla, surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists. The whole is surrounded by three Archivolts arches, of which the elders of the Apocalypse (see last judgment ) shows. Also interesting is a lintel in which angels holding a labarum in the form of a wheel.
• Santos Justo y Pastor (often just called San Justo ) is another Romanesque church with beautiful capitals in the interior and one - in Spain extraordinarily rare - crypt with three apses. The church was converted into a museum of Christian Art (Museo de city's main square ).
• The Romanesque church of San Millan has been registered because of their neglected state on the " Red List of Threatened Cultural Heritage ".
• The same applies to the Castillo de Fernán González to the Plaza Mayor.

Other churches and "archaeological zones " can be found in several incorporated suburbs of the city. Particularly noteworthy are the - equipped with a typical for the region south porch - Romanesque church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción suburb Duratón, which was built in the immediate vicinity of a necropolis with several stone cists from Visigothic period and the Church of San Pedro Advincula in Perorrubio.