Talamanca de Jarama

Talamanca de Jarama is a municipality ( municipio ) in the Autonomous Community of Madrid. The old center was classified because of its historical buildings as cultural ( Bien de Interès Cultural ) in the category Conjunto histórico - artístico.

Location and transport

Talamanca de Jarama is located about 53 kilometers northeast of the city of Madrid at Jarama. The city of Guadalajara in the province is located about 40 kilometers southeast. Toledo, Spain, the ancient capital, located about 130 kilometers away to the southwest.

Demographics

In the 19th century the population was consistently at about 500 people. Comparatively low land prices and rents have led in recent years to an influx of people from rural areas, but also from the city of Madrid.

Economy

For a long time Talamanca de Jarama an average craft and retail center north of Madrid, which was characterized mainly by a subsistence economy.

History

The history of Talamanca de Jarama dates back to the Bronze Age, but it was always only temporary settlement traces. In Roman times the place was at the intersection of two smaller roads, which favored the installation of a settlement: From this period probably dates back to the so-called Roman bridge ( puente romano ) on the River Jarama; Also, a cemetery was discovered. In the course of Visigothic period was also colonized. From the period of Islamic dominance (Al -Andalus ) over large parts of the Iberian Peninsula, most traces have disappeared. On a mountain range north of Talamanca, however, are still some round wax and signal towers ( atalayas ), belonging to a Muslim defensive line about 100 kilometers north of Toledo and are dated to the 9th or 10th century. It is also known a chronicler named Umar Al- Talamankí ( 951-1038 ).

In the years 1083-1085 was related to the re-conquest ( reconquista ) of Toledo by Alfonso VI. also Talamanca again in Christian hands. 1140 was Alfonso VII Talamanca and its surroundings in the hands of his beloved Urraca Fernández de Castro; 1188 Alfonso VIII familiar the basic rule ( señorio ) about Talamanca to the Diocese of Toledo. A few years later, after the defeat of the troops of Alfonso VIII at the Battle of Alarcos ( 1195) Talamarca fell again for a short time in the hands of the Muslims - a situation that after the victory of the Christian armies battle of Las Navas de Tolosa ( 1212 ) has been corrected for ever. In the 13th century Talamanca experienced an economic and cultural heyday, which can be seen above all in connection with the re- population ( repoblación ) of the region by newcomers from the north but from the south of Spain ( Mudéjar ). During this time the Ábside de los Milagros was born, an impressive Romanesque brick building in Mudejar style.

In the 15th century was part of the place to the 2500 population - a figure which fell after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in the years after 1492 until the mid-16th century to about 400. Finally - especially after the expulsion of the Moriscos (1610 ) - she sank back on the status of a rural community which could feed on the principle of self-sufficiency even of crops and livestock or had. From the 16th to the 18th century, the city changed hands several times their lord; recently, the region belonged essentially to the Carthusian order and the Dukes of Béjar, which were counted in 1520 by Charles V to the grandees of the first class.

After the - temporary - abolition of all landlords in the liberal Constitution of Cadiz (1812 ) and the restructuring of the Spanish territory in 1833 came to Talamanca province of Madrid. Shortly thereafter, as part of the desamortisación almost all church properties were nationalized. During the Spanish Civil War Talamanca was briefly again became a border town between the two opposing camps.

Attractions

• Of the five medieval churches of Talamanca are preserved only in two parts: The Romanesque apse of San Juan Bautista Church is the oldest surviving building in the city; the built of hewn exactly dressed stone semicircle is divided into the vertical of four three-quarter columns with three - formerly probably unglazed - narrow window slits set with small columns. The brackets below the eaves were formerly decorated with heads and small figures; the Metop fields in-between were a rich geometric ornamentation. The rest of the church dates mainly from the 16th century.
• The Mudéjar style all brick built Ábside de los Milagros is usually only called El Morabito and is only slightly younger. The outside shows on a foundation of huge, largely unhewn boulders a three-storey building of staggered blind arcades, which hardly differ in their size. The interior, however, is only two stories; the built of brick Apsiskalotte hidden behind the upper arcades of the exterior zone. Strikingly, however, common in buildings in the Mudejar style, is the total lack of figurative or vegetable decorative elements.
• From the medieval, but later repeatedly repaired and renewed in parts of the city wall two inconspicuous town gates ( Puerta Sur and Puerta del Este ), three flanking towers as well as several short pieces of wall are obtained.
• The former Carthusian monastery ( cartuja ) dates from the 17th century; the components obtained are remarkably kept simple - as it corresponds to the applied also brick construction. The monks living here turned in contrast to their urban counterparts again the agricultural work and refused a decorative features of the monastery from - so the overall look of the building complex is more like a peasant farm. The facilities consist of a brick vaulted, half above ground cellar ( bodega ) and a small chapel with frescoes decor.
• In the northwest of the old town, the small hermitage ( ermita ) La Soledad is from the 17th century.
• A stone fünfbogige segmental arch bridge over the former river bed of the River Jarama is - still dated to the Roman period, which is unlikely but because of the long-span arches - due to their solid workmanlike stone processing in the lower part. The side sills with their break and pebble stone walls date with security of the Middle Ages.

• On an approximately 1000 meter high mountain range a few miles north of Talamanca several built of unhewn stone round towers ( atalayas ) or radicals thereof, which were built in the 9th and 10th centuries, during the period of Islamic rule as a guard and signal towers. The most impressive is the hamlet of El Vellon; with a diameter of about six meters achieve its about a meter thick walls a height of about nine meters. Access to the tower is set in 2.50 meters high and was only by means of a ladder which could be collected in the case of defense, accessible. Inside, too, could reach the wooden observation deck via a ladder.
• Slightly larger in size and in height but otherwise the structure is equal to the Atalaya Arrebatacapas at Laguna Torre.
• Slightly smaller in extent and in the amount of Atalaya Torrepedrera is the hamlet of El Berrueco.

Movies

Talamanca de Jarama and some buildings in the city have served on many film productions as a backdrop; the most important are:

• Conan the Barbarian (1982); Directed by John Milius, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger
• 1492 - Conquest of Paradise (1992); Directed by Ridley Scott, starring Gerard Depardieu
• Farinelli (1994); Director: Gérard Corbiau, lead actor Stefano Dionisi
• Goya's Ghosts (2006); Directed by Milos Forman, starring: Stellan Skarsgård
• Alatriste (2006); Directed by: Agustín Díaz Yanes, lead actor: Viggo Mortensen

Twinning

• Talamanca ( Cantón ), Costa Rica

Personalities

• Umar Al- Talamankí (951-1038), Islamic Koran scholar and chronicler