Vilasantar is a municipality of northwestern Spain in the

province of A Coruña The province of A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical en, link=no, Corunna) is the northwesternmost province of Spain, and one of the four provinces which constitute the autonomous community of Galicia. This province is surrounded by the At ...

in the

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

of Galicia. It belongs to the

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

Betanzos Betanzos () is a municipality in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña. It belongs to the comarca of Betanzos. In Roman times Betanzos was called Flauvium Brigantium or ''Brigantium''. During the ...

Geography

Vilasantar is located in the south of the comarca of Betanzos. It is bordered to the north by the municipalities of

Curtis Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin from the Old French ''curteis'' ( Modern French ''courtois'') which derived from the Spanish Cortés (of which Cortez is a variation) and the Portuguese and Ga ...

and Oza-Cesuras; to the west by Mesía, to the east with Sobrado and to the south with Boimorto. Its surface is 59.2 km². It is situated in an area of medium altitude, with most of the municipality being between 400 and 500 meters above sea level. The Tambre river (which delimits the southern border with Boimorto), and its tributaries, including the Cabalar river and the Río das Gándaras river, are of great importance.

History

Megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

s are preserved, such as the mámoas de Vilariño, the mámoa de Pedriño or the medorra de Fanegas, in the parish of San Vicenzo de Curtis. Castros such as those in Vilariño or As Corredoiras are preserved from the

Castro culture Castro culture ( gl, cultura castrexa, pt, cultura castreja, ast, cultura castriega, es, cultura castreña, meaning "culture of the hillforts") is the archaeological term for the material culture of the northwestern regions of the Iberian Pe ...

. Of the

romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, a ...

there are remains of the Roman camp of Ciadella, the bigger of those discovered in Galicia, between the municipalities of Sobrado and Vilasantar. Pazo de Présaras en Vilasantar

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, these lands belonged to the county of Présaras, which had its origin in the Roman praessurae, desert lands offered to settlers to be populated and cultivated. The area was strongly linked to the Sobrado Abbey and Monastery of Santa María de Mezonzo. This last one may have its origin in the Suevian era, because the church retains two capitals of the sixth or seventh centuries and appears in Latin documents as monastery of Mosontio. In the middle of the tenth century, Pedro de Mezonzo, who became the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

of the convent and bishop of Compostela, joined him. In the Modern Age there were numerous hidalgos in the municipality, as evidenced by several

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

s. Vilasantar was established as municipality in 1834. Its population grew until 1950, when it began to fall due to emigration. It was an area of great activity during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and the

postwar In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...

period. In 1938, the mayor of Vilasantar and neighbor of Présaras, Antonio Iglesias Corral, was executated in Miraz, Friol. In the years following the war, the Guerrilla Army of Galicia took some actions in the municipality, as well as the mythical Foucellas, who acted in the area and lived a time hidden in the house of his cousin in Ru, Vilasantar. In the parish of Mezonzo was born other guerrilla, Manolito Bello.

Economy

The

primary sector The primary sector of the economy includes any Industry (economics), industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining. The primary sector tends to make up a larger portio ...

and the

tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

one have a predominant weight in the area, and in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...

the manufacture of wooden board stands out, due to the presence of the Losán Group in the municipality. During the first half of the 20th century, the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturi ...

was very important because of the La Arzuana factory in Présaras, founded by Luís Miranda and José Núñez de la Barca, and in which hundreds of people worked, most of them women.

Demography

According to the National Institute of Statistics, the population of Vilasantar in 2017 was 1,241 inhabitants. Evolution of the population in the last century: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.8) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.6) id:bar value:rgb(1,0.75,0.4) ImageSize = width:500 height:300 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:20 top:20 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:4500 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:100 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:white PlotData= color:bar width:20 align:left bar:1900 from:0 till:3020 bar:1910 from:0 till:3001 bar:1920 from:0 till:3197 bar:1930 from:0 till:3331 bar:1940 from:0 till:4073 bar:1950 from:0 till:4094 bar:1960 from:0 till:3869 bar:1970 from:0 till:2887 bar:1981 from:0 till:2368 bar:1991 from:0 till:1875 bar:2001 from:0 till:1639 bar:2009 from:0 till:1415 bar:2017 from:0 till:1241 PlotData= bar:1900 at: 3020 fontsize:S text:3.020 shift:(-10,5) bar:1910 at: 3001 fontsize:S text:3.001 shift:(-10,5) bar:1920 at: 3197 fontsize:S text:3.197 shift:(-10,5) bar:1930 at: 3331 fontsize:S text:3.331 shift:(-10,5) bar:1940 at: 4073 fontsize:S text:4.073 shift:(-10,5) bar:1950 at: 4094 fontsize:S text:4.094 shift:(-10,5) bar:1960 at: 3869 fontsize:S text:3.869 shift:(-10,5) bar:1970 at: 2887 fontsize:S text:2.887 shift:(-10,5) bar:1981 at: 2368 fontsize:S text:2.368 shift:(-10,5) bar:1991 at: 1875 fontsize:S text:1.875 shift:(-10,5) bar:2001 at: 1639 fontsize:S text:1.639 shift:(-10,5) bar:2009 at: 1415 fontsize:S text:1.415 shift:(-10,5) bar:2017 at: 1241 fontsize:S text:1.241 shift:(-10,5)

Parishes

The municipality is formed by the following seven parishes: * Armental (San Martiño). * Barbeito (San Salvador). * Mezonzo (Santa María). * Présaras (San Pedro). * San Vicenzo de Curtis (San Vicenzo). * Vilariño (Santa María). * Vilasantar (Santiago).

References

{{coord, 43, 04, N, 8, 06, W, region:ES_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Municipalities in the Province of A Coruña