Aguilar del Río Alhama is a village in the province and

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other List of municipalities in La Rioja, cities and towns in the ...

, Spain. The municipality covers an area of and as of 2011 had a population of 549 people. It is located in a low altitude mountainous area, in the foothills of the

Iberian System Iberian refers to Iberia. Most commonly Iberian refers to: *Someone or something originating in the Iberian Peninsula, namely from Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. The term ''Iberian'' is also used to refer to anything pertaining to the fo ...

. It belongs to the region of Rioja Baja and is washed by the waters of the Alhama river.

Location

The municipality is located in the extreme southeast of

, in the foothills of the Sierra del Pelago. It is bordered to the north and east by Cervera del Rio Alhama, west (from N to S) by Valdemadera and Navajún, and to the south by four municipalities in

Soria province Soria is a province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. Most of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area. Demographics It is bordered by the provinces of La Rioja, Zaragoza ...

(from W to E), Cigudosa, San Felices, Dévanos and

Ágreda Ágreda is a municipality located in the Soria (province), province of Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. Ágreda is the regional services center in the Northeast of the Soria (province), province of Soria. Its abund ...

History

The earliest record of the municipality dates from the 12th century when it was incorporated into Castile in 1198. In 1269

Theobald II of Navarre Theobald II (6/7 December 1239 – 4/5 December 1270) was King of Navarre and also, as Theobald V, Count of Champagne and Brie (region), Brie, from 1253 until his death. He was the son and successor of Theobald I of Navarre, Theobald I and the s ...

included it in the jurisdiction of Viana and granted a weekly market on Tuesdays. In 1271

Henry I of Navarre Henry the Fat (Basque: ''Henrike I.a, Gizena'', French: ''Henri le Gros'', Spanish: ''Enrique el Gordo'') (c. 1244 – 22 July 1274) was King of Navarre (as Henry I) and Count of Champagne and Brie (as Henry III) from 1270 until his death. ...

ordered the residents of the village of Rio to relocate to the village to form a single municipality. In 1273 Pedro Sanchez de Monteagut, lord of

Cascante Cascante is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. During the Roman period, Cascante was known as Cascantum. Notable people * Kike Sola, footballer * Álex Remiro Alejandro "Á ...

, who owned the village, donated it to

King Henry King Henry may refer to: * Rulers named Henry; see * King Henry (producer) (born 1989), American record producer and DJ See also * Henry King (disambiguation) {{disambiguation, tndis ...

. In 1302 toll collectors from Tudela claimed rights over the village as a result of which they complained to Alfonso Robray, governor of Navarre, who ordered them not to worry. In the 14th century, it was integrated into the lordship of Cameros.

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–114 ...

, in 1452, liberated the entire village from the perpetual tax on wine which they sold, for having been faithful, although they may have experienced theft, arrest or were killed. In 1463

Henry IV of Castile Henry IV of Castile (Spanish language, Castilian: ''Enrique IV''; 5 January 1425 – 11 December 1474), nicknamed the Impotent, was King of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingdom of León, León and the last of the weak late-medieval kings of Ca ...

subjected many villages to his dominion, including Aguilar, under the compromise ruling granted by

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

. In the 16th century, the Aguilar County was created. Until the late 16th century, Aguilar del Rio Alhama was an Islamic community of

Moriscos ''Moriscos'' (, ; ; " Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Catholic Church and Habsburg Spain commanded to forcibly convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed Islam. Spain had a sizeable M ...

(Moors forcibly converted to Catholicism). In the 1580s, it was the scene of one of the worst collective persecutions of an entire Morisco community in the history of the Inquisition, when nearly 30 adults from a village of some hundred households were burned at the stake or died in prison for secretly practising Islamic rituals. The Morisco community never recovered, and in the early years of the 17th century, all Moriscos were expelled from Spain by royal edict. A mine was discovered in 1747 in a place called Santo de la Peña. Here a small extraction was conducted and this was sold to potters from Ágreda. There is no evidence that exploiting followed later.

Dinosaur footprints

During the

Cretaceous period The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ninth and longest geologi ...

the zone where Aguilar del Río Alhama occupies formed part of a flooded plain that was eroded periodically, leaving behind muddy areas where dinosaur tracks remained marked into its path. Eventually these were dried and covered with new sediment whose weight compressed the lower layers, causing them to solidify into rocks over millions of years. Erosion has been wearing down the upper layers resulting in many of these rock formations becoming visible, revealing the footprints. The town is the site of "La Virgen del Prado", declared

Bien de Interés Cultural (, , , ) is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Colombia and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" ("goods" in the economic sense). It includes not only mater ...

in the category of Historic Site on 23 June 2000. It is located near the village of Inestrillas next to the chapel that lends its name to the site, 2.4 km from the road. It is easily accessible. In it there are 36 footprints of carnivorous dinosaurs between 30 and 32 cm in the length which shows three stylized fingers (Filichnites gracilis). Four of the footprints form a small trail and the rest are isolated. Aguilar del Río Alhama has the peculiarity of containing the oldest footprints in La Rioja. Fish scales of the genus

Lepidotes ''Lepidotes'' (from , 'covered with scales') (previously known as ''Lepidotus'') is an extinct genus of Mesozoic ray-finned fish. It has long been considered a wastebasket taxon, characterised by "general features, such as thick rhomboid scales ...

have also been found.

Demography

The closure, in 1959, of a textile factory which employed a number of people, caused a rapid decline in the population, as many had to move to other areas in search of work. On 1 January 2010 the population was 573 inhabitants, 275 men and 298 women.

Recent population of the main nucleus

As at 1 January 2010, Aguilar del Río Alhama had a population of 493 inhabitants with 241 men and 252 women.

Population by nucleus

Communication routes

*County road 284 connects Aguilar to

Cervera del Río Alhama Cervera del Río Alhama is a town in the province and autonomous community of La Rioja, Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Pun ...

, the head of the region. Inestrillas, a village located in this same county, is found on this road. *Route 388 connects to the Soria towns of San Felices and Castilruiz. *Route 490 connects to Valdemadera and Navajún. There is bus service from: *

Logroño Logroño ( , , ) is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja, Spain. Located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, primarily in the right (South) bank of the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of pa ...

Calahorra Calahorra (; ; ) is a municipality in the Spanish autonomous community and province of La Rioja. During Ancient Roman times, Calahorra was a municipium known as ''Calagurris Nassica Iulia''. Location The city is located on a hill at an altitude ...

. Weekdays only. * Alfaro. Weekdays only. * Tudela

Places of interest

Buildings and monuments

*Church of the Assumption: Made up of a single nave with three sections and was built with stone and ashlar in the 16th century. It has starry ribbed vaults and four side chapels. It features neoclassical and

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

altarpieces. There is a Gothic sculpture of the

Virgen de los Remedios The Virgin of Los Remedios () or Our Lady of Los Remedios (, ) is a title of the Virgin Mary developed by the Trinitarian Order, founded in the late 12th century. The devotion became tied to the ''Reconquista'' of Spain, then still at its height ...

and a recumbent Christ from the 18th century. *The Valvanera or

Santa María La Antigua The Church of Saint Mary the Ancient () is a 12th-century church in Valladolid, central Spain. It was declared ''Bien de Interés Cultural'' in 1897. History Underneath the current building, remains of foundations have been found of a Ancient ...

Hermitage: From the Romanesque period. *Castle: It was located on top of the hill next to the village and was built in the 12th century. Only its ruins remain.

Other places of interest

*Contrebia Leukade: was a Celtiberian city whose history dates back to the early Iron Age. Its ruins are preserved in relatively good condition. It is adjacent to the village of Inestrillas. *Gutur: is a deserted village which has a chapel dedicated to the Virgen de los Remedios.

Flora and fauna

There are a lot of vultures flying over the town which take advantage of the thermal currents. There are also golden eagles, Bonelli and hawks. There is also the Mustela putorius or European polecat. In the municipality, besides common trees such as the oak or elder, there is also found the

pistacia terebinthus ''Pistacia terebinthus'' also called the terebinth and the turpentine tree, is a deciduous shrub species of the genus ''Pistacia'', native to the Mediterranean region from the western regions of Morocco and Portugal to Greece and western and s ...

or turpentine tree, the

acer monspessulanum ''Acer monspessulanum'', the Montpellier maple, is a species of maple native to the Mediterranean region from Morocco and Portugal in the west, to Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel in the east, and north to the Jura Mountains in France and the ...

or black maple,

Juniperus phoenicea ''Juniperus phoenicea'', the Phoenicean juniper or Arâr, is a juniper found throughout the Mediterranean region. Description ''Juniperus phoenicea'' is a large evergreen shrub or small tree reaching tall, with a trunk up to in diameter and ...

or Phoenicean Juniper, the

Juniperus oxycedrus ''Juniperus oxycedrus'', vernacularly called Cade, cade juniper, prickly juniper, prickly cedar, or sharp cedar, is a species of juniper, native across the Mediterranean region, growing on a variety of rocky sites from sea level. The specific ep ...

or prickly Juniper,

cistus albidus ''Cistus albidus'', the grey-leaved cistus, is a shrubby species of flowering plant in the family Cistaceae, with pink to purple flowers, native to south-western Europe and western north Africa. Description ''Cistus albidus'' grows up to tall. ...

or white rockrose.

Celebrations

*January 17, San Antón. *May 3, Day of the Cross. It was moved to the first Saturday in May and is a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgen de los Remedios in Gutur. Bodigos (bread stuffed with egg and sausage) are traditional features of this day. *14 to 20 August, festivities in honour of the Assumption and

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79; traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327), also called Rock in English, was a Majorcan Catholic confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he was especially invo ...

Image gallery

File:AGUILAR DEL RIO ALHAMA-Torre de la Iglesia de la Asuncion (sXVI)-Sierra del Tormo.jpg, Tower of the 16th century Asunción church - Sierra del Tormo. File:AGUILAR DEL RIO ALHAMA. Ermita de la Valvanera o de Santa María la Antigua.jpg, Valvanera or Santa María la Antigua Hermitage. File:AGUILAR DEL RIO ALHAMA-Iglesia de la Asuncion (sXVI).jpg, 16th century Asunción Church.

Bibliography

References

External links

Official site of Aguilar del Río Alhama

Official site of the Celtiberian city of Contrebia Leucade

Aguilar del Río Alhama website

Blog with updated information and news on Aguilar del Río Alhama

Contrebia Leucade, Photo gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguilar del Rio Alhama Populated places in La Rioja (Spain) Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in La Rioja (Spain)