Almazán () is a municipality located in the
province of Soria
Soria is a Province (Spain), province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Castile and León. Most of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area.
Demo ...
,
Castile and León
Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...
, Spain. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 5,843 inhabitants. It is also the seat of the judicial district of Almazán, and ecclesiastically it belongs to the
Diocese of Osma, a suffragan diocese of the
Archdiocese of Burgos.
Connected via the
Autovía A-15 and Carretera nacional N-111, it is situated by road northeast of Madrid. The town lies on the east bank of the
Duero
The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern part of the Meseta ...
river.
History
In the early 10th century, fortifications were built along the Duero at
Soria
Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populatio ...
and Almazán.
In 1068, Almazán was conquered by the Christians of
Alfonso VI of León, but soon after was recovered for al-Ándalus.
In 1128, it was repopulated by
Alfonso I, although after his death in 1134, the town fell into Castilian hands and was granted by
Alfonso VII of León to the bishops of
Sigüenza
Sigüenza () is a city in the La Serranía, Serranía de Guadalajara Comarcas of Castile-La Mancha, comarca, Province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain.
History
The site of the ancient ''Segontia'' ('dominating over the valley') of the C ...
. In 1158, Sancho III of Castile created the Almazán la Orden de Caballería de Calatrava.
The Church of San Miguel was built in the 12th century. In the late 13th century, civil war broke out, involving Sancho IV of Castile, who claimed the throne of Castile, and Alfonso de la Cerda, a liberal. In 1305, after various conflicts, Almazán was returned to the Castilian crown, and then in 1375, a peace agreement was signed between Pedro IV of Aragon, King of Aragon, and Henry II, king of Castile.
Almazán was divided into two townships, and the town became ruled by the Mayor, assisted by six aldermen, three class gentlemen and three good men of the town. It was visited by important figures in the Catholic Church several times over the years. On March 12, 1648,
the playwright
Tirso de Molina
Gabriel Téllez, O. de M. (24 March 158320 February 1648), also known as Tirso de Molina, was a Spanish Baroque dramatist and poet, as well as a Mercedarian friar, and Catholic priest. He is primarily known for writing '' The Trickster of Sev ...
died
in the convent of the Merced and presumably lies in the convent cemetery.
During the Spanish War of Independence, on July 10, 1810, the town was taken by French General
Régis Barthélemy Mouton-Duvernet, but with the fall of the ancien regime, it became a constitutional municipality of the region of Castilla la Vieja. The 1842 census recorded 484 households and 2400 residents in Almazán.
In the 1850s, mid-nineteenth century, the population grew significantly after
Fuentelcarro and
Tejerizas were merged into the municipality. In the 1981 census, the population again grew markedly after the incorporation of
Cobertelada into the municipality, with the localities of
Almántiga,
Balluncar,
Covarrubias and
Lodares del Monte.
Notable people
Lexicographer
María Moliner grew up in the town,
after moving from her birthplace, the Aragonese town of
Paniza.
References
External links
Church of San Miguel photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almazan
Municipalities in the Province of Soria