Viguera is a municipality in

La Rioja, Spain La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and N� ...

. It includes the villages Castañares de las Cuevas, El Puente, and Panzares.

History

The earliest documentary evidence is in the

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–19 ...

historian Ajbar Machmua, who told that Abd ar-Rahman I recovered La Rioja in 759, after it having been conquered by

Alfonso I of Asturias Alfonso I of Asturias, called the Catholic (''el Católico''), (c. 693 – 757) was the third King of Asturias, reigning from 739 to his death in 757. His reign saw an extension of the Christian domain of Asturias, reconquering Galicia and L ...

in 755. He commented in particular that after taking Viguera Castle, Abd ar-Rahman I crossed all of La Rioja and penetrated

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álav ...

. It was one of the fortifications that the

Banu Qasi The Banu Qasi, Banu Kasi, Beni Casi ( ar, بني قسي or بنو قسي, meaning "sons" or "heirs of Cassius"), Banu Musa, or al-Qasawi were a Muladí (local convert) dynasty that in the 9th century ruled the Upper March, a frontier te ...

used to defend La Rioja from the Christians. In the second half of the ninth century, Lubb ibn Musa, one of the sons of

Musa ibn Musa al-Qasawi Musa ibn Musa al-Qasawi ( also nicknamed ''the Great'' (); died 26 September 862) was leader of the Muwallad Banu Qasi clan and ruler of a semi-autonomous principality in the upper Ebro valley in northern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia in the 9th centur ...

, reconstructed the fortress. Lubb died hunting deer and was buried in the location. Upon Christian reconquest, it became the site of the

Kingdom of Viguera The Kingdom of Viguera ( Basque: ''Viguerako Erresuma'') was a small ephemeral subsidiary kingdom centered on the town of Viguera from 970 into the early 11th century. The kingdom was created by King García Sánchez I of Pamplona for the eldest ...

(970-1005). At the end of this period, it became part of the

Kingdom of Navarre The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France. The medieval state took ...

, although later the area passed into the hand of the nobles of Cameros, as part of their feudal territory.

Demographics

Population centres

* Viguera * Castañares de las Cuevas * El Puente * Panzares

Places of interest

* Parish Church of La Asunción: Constructed in the 16th century of masonry and ashlar, recently restored * Hermitage of Nuestra Señora del Rosario: Based on an earlier hermitage from the 16th century, reformed in the 18th century * Hermitage of San Marcos: Originally in the 17th century, recently restored by a group of women of the town who, without interest in the devotion of this hermitage or its festival, have restored it * Hermitage of San Esteban * Hermitage of Santa Lucía, in the village of Panzares, rebuilt in 1968 above a 16th-century edifice * Parish Church of La Asunción: In Castañares de las Cuevas, from the 16th century * Medieval bridges: ** Leaving Logroño near the border of Viguera, 11th century ** After Islallan

Local festivals

*In honor of Saint Mark, April 25 *Patrol festivals in honor of Saint James and Saint Ann. July 25 and 26

References

{{authority control Municipalities in La Rioja (Spain)