Villanueva del Arzobispo is a city located in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2011

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 inc ...

( INE), the city had a population of 8,924.

History

The town was first mentioned in the year 1396 owing to a petition made by Pedro Tenorio,

archbishop of Toledo This is a list of Bishops and Archbishops of Toledo ( la, Archidioecesis Metropolitae Toletana).

, to King

Henry III of Castile Henry III of Castile (4 October 1379 – 25 December 1406), called the Suffering due to his ill health (, ), was the son of John I and Eleanor of Aragon. He succeeded his father as King of Castile in 1390. Birth and education Henry was bo ...

. Hence the town's name, which means ''New Town of the Archbishop'' in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

. Before this date, the town was called ''La Moraleja'', adjacent to Iznatoraf and towards the beginning of the 13th century formed part of the conquered territory of Cazorla. There exist basic forms of the ancient name of the locality, which before being called La Moraleja was called in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

''Al-Buxarressa'', from which La Moraleja derives. The urban nucleus of Villanueva del Arzobispo is situated next to the mountain of Albercones, to the west, at a crossroads. It presents a mixed picture, with some ancient districts made up of irregular roads and blocks of houses, and others with blocks more or less in a regular pattern which conforms to the more modern extended area. In the ancient quarter, situated in the west part of the centre, there are various roads with steep inclinations. The towns development basically radiated from the centre to the north-east and south-east, following the line marked by the highway 322 and by the way to the park. To the west the presence of the arroyo of the Pozo has prevented further urban expansion. King Philip II imposed criminal jurisdiction on the town in 1573. However, in the 20th century, the town was given the title of city by King

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...

in 1920.

Notable buildings

With a distinctive artistic history various buildings, places of great ecological importance and enclaves with a rich heritage include: * ''Iglesia parroquial de San Andrés'' (Parochial church of

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Pete ...

), built on the ruins of a former mosque in the 16th century. * ''Santuario de la Virgen de la Fuensanta'' (Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Holy Springs) which receives the patronage of the Four Towns (Villanueva del Arzobispo itself, along with Iznatoraf,

Villacarrillo Villacarrillo is a locality and Spanish municipality located in the south-western part of the region of Las Villas, in the province of Jaén. It borders the municipalities of Santisteban del Puerto, Iznatoraf, Villanueva del Arzobispo, Santiago-Pon ...

and Sorihuela del Guadalimar). * ''Iglesia de la Vera Cruz'' (Church of the True Cross), in which is a statue of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

by the sculptor

Mariano Benlliure Mariano Benlliure y Gil (8 September 18629 November 1947) was a Spanish sculptor and medallist, who executed many public monuments and religious sculptures in Spain, working in a heroic realist style. Life and works He was born in the Lower St ...

. * ''Convento de Santa Ana'' (Convent of

Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

), a baroque construction with a Renaissance cloister of the 16th century. * ''Plaza de Toros'' (

Bullring A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with the Iberian Peninsula, but they can also be found through Iberian America and in a few Spanish and Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. Bullrings are ...

), designed by architect Mr Angel Arbex and built in 1928 in neo-Moorish style. * ''Casa de los Arcos'' (House of the Arches), early 20th century building with Moorish-style interior. * ''Ermitas del Calvario'' (Hermitage of Calvary), founded by Saint

John of the Cross John of the Cross, OCD ( es, link=no, Juan de la Cruz; la, Ioannes a Cruce; born Juan de Yepes y Álvarez; 24 June 1542 – 14 December 1591) was a Spanish Catholic priest, mystic, and a Carmelite friar of converso origin. He is a major figu ...

in 1576.

Economy

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

is dominated by the

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ' ...

. Currently, four grades are used in the work in making the olives into

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...

. The quality of the waters of the Sierra de Cazorla is considered sufficient for the installation of a

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases. T ...

bottling Bottling lines are production lines that fill a product, generally a beverage, into bottles on a large scale. Many prepared foods are also bottled, such as sauces, syrups, marinades, oils and vinegars. Beer bottling process Packaging of bottle ...

industry. Other important industries include San Miguel Arcángel and the

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bio ...

plant La Loma ( generation of energy from olive skins and other olive products). The cultivation of

cereal A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...

s is very small, and is substituted by the olive.

References

{{authority control Municipalities in the Province of Jaén (Spain)