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Castrojeriz or Castrogeriz is a locality and municipality located in the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of
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), the comarca of
Odra-Pisuerga Odra-Pisuerga is a '' comarca'' (county, but without administrative roles) located in the west of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is bounded by the west and south-west by the province of Palenc ...
, the judicial district of Burgos, head of the town council of the same name and former head of the Castrojeriz judicial district. It is a popular stop along the French Way of the
Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...
or ''The Way of Saint James'', which crosses the city longitudinally for more than 1,500 meters.


History

The village is located along the Odra River just before it joins the Pisuerga. Historically it was head of the Castrojeriz judicial district, one of the fourteen that formed the municipality of Burgos, in the period between 1785 and 1833. In the 1787 Floridablanca Census it fell under the jurisdiction of a lordship with its proprietor being the Marquesa de Camarasa, with an ordinary mayor. It is believed to have been the former Castrum Sigerici. The village is arranged like other villages along the Camino. On this street-route there are several churches and notable buildings. There is a castle, in ruins, which has a lot of history. The village was established by Count Muño (or Nuño Nuñez), who defended the fort at the end of the ninth century against the Arabs. Before that it had been a Celtiberian, Roman and Visigoth fortress. In 974, Count García Fernández of Castile granted it a charter, the Charter of Castrojeriz, which is considered to be the 1st granted in Castile. It is an example of Jacobean urbanism, with houses located around the street-route, which is the longest of all on the pilgrimage route. As an important stage in the Camino de Santiago it had several hospitals along this street. There is a
calvary Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...
which sports a Cross of Tau (Tau) instead of the Latin cross perhaps as a reminder of the Order of the Antonians who had a monastery and hospital on the outskirts of the town, where they healed and tended to the sick afflicted by St. Anthony Fire, called also the holy fire, a disease now known to be caused by ingesting a fungal parasite on rye.


Population

As of 1 January 2010 the population of the municipality stood at 882 inhabitants, of which 447 are males and 435 females.


Population by nucleus


Heritage


The village

* Bien de Interés Cultural *
Conjunto histórico In Spain, the legal designation ''Conjunto histórico'' (formerly ''Conjunto Histórico-Artístico'' or "Historic-Artistic Grouping") is part of the national system of heritage listing. It is applied to buildings in a given locality. It is typicall ...
(historical group or set) * Observation: An integral part of the Camino de Santiago delimited by decree 324/99, of the 23 December * Date — Commencement: 20 December 1974 — Declaration: 20 December 1974 — BOE Declaration: 31 January 1975


The Castle of Castrojeriz

* Bien de Interés Cultural * Date — Commencement: 22 April 1949 — Declaration: 22 April 1949 — BOE Declaration: 5 May 1949 In 1359 queen
Eleanor of Castile Eleanor of Castile (1241 – 28 November 1290) was Queen of England as the first wife of Edward I, whom she married as part of a political deal to affirm English sovereignty over Gascony. The marriage was known to be particularly close, and ...
, daughter of king Ferdinand IV of Castile and wife of king Alfonso IV of Aragon, was murdered here by order of her nephew
Pedro of Castile Peter ( es, Pedro; 30 August 133423 March 1369), called the Cruel () or the Just (), was King of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. Peter was the last ruler of the main branch of the House of Ivrea. He was excommunicated by Pope Urban V for ...
.


House called "El Fuerte"

* Bien de Interés Cultural * Date — Commencement: 22 April 1949 — Declaration: 22/04/1949 — BOE Declaration: 5 May 1949


Tower

* Bien de Interés Cultural * Date — Commencement: 22 April 1949 — Declaration: 22/04/1949 — BOE Declaration: 5 May 1949


Church of San Juan

* Bien de Interés Cultural * Date — Commencement: 21 November 1980 — Declaration: 29 June 1990 — BOE Declaration: 3 July 1990 The present building was erected for burial of several families of lineage. It contains the following main elements of interest: * Sixteenth century cloister - Three galleries or pandas still remain. It has a Mudejar style coffered ceiling with astrological references, decorated with the coats of arms of the Gómez Sandovals, who were lords of Castrojeriz between 1426 and 1476. There are some stamped crossings of Templar origin on the capitals of the columns. * A funeral chapel built by Juan Gonzalez Gallo, located in the south aisle - It is sixteenth century. The altarpiece is composed of 12 panels attributed to
Ambrosius Benson Ambrosius Benson (, in Ferrara or Milan1550, in Flanders) was an Italian painter who became a part of the Northern Renaissance. While many surviving paintings have been attributed, there is very little known of him from records, and he tended no ...
. * Castro-Mujica Chapel, located in the first section of the north aisle - It was built by Juan and Pedro Henestrosa. There is the Gothic interment of Diego Mújica who died in 1527. It is depicted by a recumbent bust and the sarcophagus adorned with his coats of arms. * The main altarpiece, built of golden pine in the eighteenth century
Rococo style Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
. Its construction was ordered by the Knight Commander and Preceptor General of the Order of San Antonio, Damián García Olloqui, for the San Antón Convent in the town, and transferred to the Church of San Juan when the Order of San Antonio was canonically attached to the Order of Malta in 1777 and finally became defunct in 1791. * It has a choir loft with railings and stairs with Gothic tracery.


Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Manzano


Ruins of the San Antón convent

Just outside, Castrojeriz on what was formerly the palace and the garden of King Pedro I of Castile, are the ruins of the ancient monastery of San Antón, run by the Hospital Brothers of St. Anthony, who were dedicated to caring for the sick who came along the
Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...
, especially those with the disease called St. Anthony's fire, sacred fire, fire of sick. Currently only the arch that formed a tunnel, through which pilgrims came and went, is left standing. This monastery was under royal protection, that is why there are royal crests on the front of the church and on the keys of the vaults. It was founded by Alfonso VII in the twelfth century (1146), and was known as the ''royal xenodoquio of San Antonio Abad''.Xenodoquio is the hospital that received foreigners, strangers, such as the pilgrims from Europe along the
Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...
.
The present ruins are from the fourteenth century. The hospital was very important, because it was the headquarters of the General Commandery of the Order of San Antonio in the various realms of the
Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accessi ...
and Portugal, with over twenty dependent encomiendas (house-monastery-hospital). The ceremonies that the Anthonian monks held to bless various objects were famous, to which many adherences came. The symbol of the Order was the tau cross.


Famous persons

*
Constance of Castile, Duchess of Lancaster Constance of Castile (1354 – 24 March 1394) was a claimant to the Crown of Castile. She was the daughter of King Peter, who was deposed and killed by his half-brother, King Henry II. She married the English prince John of Gaunt, who f ...
(1354-1394) (Castrojeriz, July 1354 -
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
castle, 24 March 1394). Second daughter of
Peter the Cruel Peter ( es, Pedro; 30 August 133423 March 1369), called the Cruel () or the Just (), was King of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. Peter was the last ruler of the main branch of the House of Ivrea. He was excommunicated by Pope Urban V for ...
, King of Castille, and of María de Padilla, married to
John of Gaunt John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399) was an English royal prince, military leader, and statesman. He was the fourth son (third to survive infancy as William of Hatfield died shortly after birth) of King Edward ...
, Duke of Lancaster and third child of king Edward III of England. * Laín Calvo (Castrojeriz or Castro Xeriz, 798 -? 870 approximately). Supreme judge of Castille. Wikisource


See also

*
Way of St. James The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the Twelve Apostle ...


Notes and references


Bibliography

* *


External links


City Council

Castrojeriz.com
{{authority control Municipalities in the Province of Burgos