Calatañazor is a municipality located in the
province of Soria
Soria is a Province (Spain), province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Castile and León. Most of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area.
Demogr ...
,
Castile and León
Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain.
It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...
, Spain. According to the 2010
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
(
INE
INE, Ine or ine may refer to:
Institutions
* Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística (disambiguation)
* Instituto Nacional de Estatística (disambiguation)
* Instituto Nacional Elec ...
), the municipality has a population of 70 inhabitants. The municipality is named after the tiny fortified city on top of a hill.
Also situated in the municipality are the hamlets Aldehuela and Abioncillo. Abioncillo used to be abandoned like many forsaken hamlets in Spain, but in the 1980s was turned around by a few dedicated teachers into an educational center.
In the valley between Calatañazor and Abioncillo, the
Battle of Calatañazor
The Battle of Calatañazor was a legendary battle of the ''Reconquista'' that supposedly took place in July 1002 in municipality Calatañazor in the province of Soria between an army of invading Saracens under Almanzor and a force of Christian al ...
took place in 1002. This place is still named ''El valle de la sangre'' (the valley of blood).
Almanzor
Abu ʿĀmir Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Abi ʿĀmir al-Maʿafiri ( ar, أبو عامر محمد بن عبد الله بن أبي عامر المعافري), nicknamed al-Manṣūr ( ar, المنصور, "the Victorious"), which is often Latiniz ...
, the ruler of Muslim
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...
is by some historians said to have died in this battle and was buried in Medinaceli. There is a statue of him in Calatañazor.
A certain kind of juniper tree, the
Juniperus thurifera
''Juniperus thurifera'' (Spanish juniper) is a species of juniper native to the mountains of the western Mediterranean region, from southern France (including Corsica) across eastern and central Spain to Morocco and locally in northern Algeria. ...
(Spanish juniper), grows in a close forest in the nature reserve of ''El Sabinar de Calatañazor''. Some are the biggest to be found in the whole
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
n peninsula. Some more are found close to an underground river, the Abión, which surfaces at the Fuentona de Muriel, a natural heritage site. The ''Fuentona'' (spring) is often visited, especially by advanced cave divers. The locals call this spring ''El Ojo de la Mar'' (the eye of the sea). In the vicinity of Abioncillo, some 4000-year-old drawings are found in ''La Cueva Maja''.
Both in the center of Abioncillo and Calatañazor, some centuries old elms can be found, as in Celt-Iberian times were an important symbol.
The name ''Calatañazor'' comes from the Arab ''Qalat al-Nusur'' which can either mean "Castle of Azure" or "Castle of Vultures".
Gallery
Calatañazor-Castillo.jpg, Ruins of the former Castle of Calatañazor.
Calatañazor-StaMaria.jpg, Church of Nuestra Señora del Castillo.
Calatañazor-Conjunto.jpg, View of the medieval town of Calatañazor.
Calatañazor-Calle.jpg, Typical street in Calatañazor.
Ermita de la Soledad de Calatañazor (cropped).JPG, Hermitage of la Soledad.
Sabinar de Calatañazor - 03 (26 de marzo de 2016, Calatañazor).jpg, El Sabinar Park.
Calatañazor-SJBautista.jpg, Church of San Juan Bautista.
Busto de Almanzor (26 de marzo de 2016, Calatañazor) 01.jpg, Statue of Almanzor in Calatañazor, Spain
Calatañazor (26 de marzo de 2016) 22.jpg, View from the Castle
References
External links
The educational center in Abioncillo
Municipalities in the Province of Soria
Cultural tourism in Spain
{{Soria-geo-stub