Melide is a municipality in the province of A Coruña in the

autonomous region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy� ...

of Galicia in northwest

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It belongs to the comarca of Terra de Melide. It has an area of 101 km² and a population of 9,000 inhabitants mostly spread among its 26

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

. It has an elevation of 456 meters.

Demography

History

The history of this village, since its foundation in the 10th century, is deeply linked with the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela as it is where two separate paths

French Way The French Way ( gl, Camiño francés, es, Camino francés, , literally the "way of the Franks") is the GR 65 and the most popular of the routes of the Way of St. James ( es, Camino de Santiago), the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Com ...

and Camino Primitivo 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 ...

link up. In 1320 Melide obtained from the Archbishop of Santiago, Berenguel de Landoira, the privilege of building up a castle, fortressing the village, and charging taxes. In 1467 ''"os irmandiños"'' opposed the Archbishop Alonso II Fonseca and started a series of fights against its power. During this riot the walls of the village were destroyed as well as the castle. After this, the Catholic Monarchs banned the construction of any fortress in the village. During the last few centuries, like many villages in inner Galicia, it has suffered from a vast emigration of its people to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

up to 1950s, and then to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and to other cities of Spain such as

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

and

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

. Currently its economy is based on agriculture, meat processing, and, more recently, tourism.

References

External links

Web of Melide

Gallery

File:Melide Furelos Galiza 08.jpg, Furelos Church File:Melide Galiza 2008-02-07 49.jpg, Santa María Church File:Melide Galiza 2008-02-07 24.jpg, Church, Melide File:Melide Furelos Galiza 06.jpg, Furelos neighbourhood File:Cruceiro de Melide2.JPG, Cruceiro de Melide File:Melide Galiza 2008-02-07 07.jpg, The center File:Casa Ezequiel.jpg, Cooking a "polbo á feira", a typical food own in this town {{DEFAULTSORT:Melide, A Coruna Municipalities in the Province of A Coruña