Valdepeñas
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| Valdepeñas | |||||
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| Valdepeñas Spain Church of Asumption | |||||
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| Location | |||||
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| Coordinates : Time zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer : CEST (GMT +2) |
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| General information | |||||
| Native name | Valdepeñas (Spanish) | ||||
| Spanish name | Valdepeñas | ||||
| Postal code | 13.000 | ||||
| Area code | +34 (Spain) + 926 XX XX XX (Ciudad Real) | ||||
| Administration | |||||
| Country | Spain | ||||
| Autonomous Community | Castile-La Mancha | ||||
| Province | Ciudad Real | ||||
| Comarca | MANSERJA | ||||
| Mayor | Jesús Martín Rodríguez Caro (PSOE) | ||||
| Geography | |||||
| Land Area | 487,6 km² | ||||
| Altitude | 705 m AMSL | ||||
| Population | |||||
| Population | 28.183 (2006) | ||||
| Density | 57.8 hab./km² (2006) | ||||
Valdepeñas is a municipality in the Spanish province of Ciudad Real, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It is also head of the judicial district that groups of localities of Moral de Calatrava, Santa Cruz de Mudela, Viso del Marqués, Torrenueva, Castellar de Santiago and Almuradiel.
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[edit] Geography
Its name means Valley of Rocks, because it is located in a wide area meander of hill the Jabalón River surrounded, just border on the plain south of La Mancha and the subsoil is rich in limestone rock.
Valdepeñas is located in the Campo de Calatrava, an extensive plain north of the Sierra Morena, and lies on the left bank of Jabalón River, a tributary of the Guadiana. Valdepeñas is located at [1] and its population is 28,183.[2]
[edit] History
[edit] Prehistory
In the municipal term, there are many prehistory remains, platforms and watchtowers located in the hills, compatible with settlers of the Bronze age. (Culture of the Motillas), dated between XX and XIII centuries BC. Vasco Merlo in their History of Valdepeñas [3] described these structures erroneously like Celtiberian settlement, being despite very previous to these and even contemporary of the Culture of Argar.
[edit] Old History
[edit] Iberian period
Eight kilometres to the South of the city, we find The Iberian city of “Cerro de las Cabezas” (Hill of the Heads), a great oppidum or town fortified with a true castle in the summit of the hill that occupies, inhabited between VII and II centuries BC. It is an important archaeology deposit of the Oretana Culture and shows signs of the first vestige of the grapevine in this region.
[edit] Roman and Visighotic period
In the XVI century and after had been found graves, coins and others ancient Roman, from a Roman villa of century I adC, that still exit in Visighotic period.
[edit] Medieval History
[edit] Islamic period
During this time the zone belonged to the Kingdom of Toledo, the inscriptions in Arab and a sun clock in the walls of the Church of Assumption remains this period. According to the oral tradition, the Caliphate gave permission to the inhabitants of this zone authorized to the culture of vine and manipulation, which was prohibited by the Koran. The Moorish were expelled of Valdepeñas by the expulsion decree in XV century.
[edit] Reconquest and Order of Calatrava
By order of the Queen Berenguela of Castile and after the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, settlers of the several villages (Aberturas, Corral Rubio de Jabalón, Santa María de las Flores and Castilnuevo) grouping around the present Church of the Assumption, it had been an old castle.
From that moment Valdepeñas belonged at Order of Calatrava and first text is mentioned it is in the record of Order of Calatrava in 1243. The new settlers coming from the Kingdoms of Castile, León (Galicia meanly) and Aragón. The Order demanded like condition of stablishment and right citizenship, the continue care of the grapevine. The city was bordered of two Military Orders: Calatrava and Santiago, at present regions of Campo de Calatrava and Campo de Montiel.
At medieval times was important the presence of a Jewish community with the existence at least two synagogues, one turned with time hermitage (Veracruz) and the old building where was the Parish of The Christ, behind its present location.
[edit] Modern History
The Reyes Católicos Ferdinand and Isabella of Castille loged in Valdepeñas on 18th February 1488 at the house of the mother of Alfonso de Merlo, and left to the care of the widow the infants during part of the conquest of Granada. The same Alfonso de Merlo was named Captain and went with more than two hundred men to Conquest of Granada, defrayed the campaign with their own finances. The Catholic Monarchs were recognize him and granted the title of Knight. Some of their descendants moved to the New World, took important positions in Peru and Chile. [4] According to a popular saying, the queen Isabella of Castile, in one of his journeys to the south (Andalusia), gave birth to a child in Valdepeñas, who did not survive and was subsequently buried in the Church of the Assumption. We can see the shield of the Catholic Monarchs, although not very well preserved, on the gate of the sun of the church.
At the present time we found diverse religious and civilians buildings from the XVI century (Trinitarians Covent).
The King Ferdinand the Catholic wanted controlling the power of Military Orders and the Pope Adrian VI saw granted the orders to the Kingdom of Castile, reason why he passes to the Royal Jurisdiction an important patrimony: two cities, two hundred villas (Valdepeñas among them) and a hundred of villages, distributed in an ample territory.
[edit] Señorío of Valdepeñas
The king Philip II sold the villa on April 22nd 1575 to D. Alvaro de Bazán first Marquess of Santa Cruz, whom became Lord of Valdepeñas. Valdepeñas would happen to be a “Señorío”, secreting itself of the Order of Calatrava.
The successive marquesses promoted the wines of Valdepeñas in the Spanish Court of the Austrian and it fame extended thus by all the country. The “clarete” of Valdepeñas received at this time the name of “aloque”.
[edit] Contemporary History
[edit] XIX Century
Nothing remarkable happened until on 6th June of 1808, when the Napoleonic occupation of Spain turns on the heat meanly after events of 2nd May in Madrid this year. Napoleonic troops went to Andalusia as reinforcements and attempted to cross the villa; whole people (men, women and also some of neighbours villas) took up arms not allowing passing the troops by the villa. The result was the elevated cost of lives and a big fire. The troops had back away from the province of La Mancha, this delay, without doubt, made easier the victory in the Battle of Bailen by the Spanish troops. The king Fernando VII would give the villa the Title of Very Heroic. After these events some inhabitants from Valdepeñas took part of the guerrilla fighting against the Napoleonic troops in the “Guerra de la Independencia”, Francisco Abad called “Chaleco” became a famous guerrillero. At the end of the XIX century and beginnings of XX, happened some events that making possible the development of the villa, the comings of supply electricity, drinkable water, the railways station and improved the roads, and the appearance of an emergent bourgeoisie growing in inhabitants duplicating in number to the provincial capital-city. In 1895, the queen Mª Cristina granted to Valdepeñas the title of City.
[edit] XX Century
At the beginnings of the century, the appeared of Phylloxera made to introduction of the resistant American vineyard but not changed the economy a lot. The Spanish Civil War broke this development; the city went down in population. During the decades 40, 50, 60 and 70 only the agriculture and the traditional family industry of wine were the economics activities in there, a common phenomenon of central Spain in these times. Already in the eighties had an intensive process of moving with the times in Valdepeñas by the wine sector including news kinds of grapes, and introduced techniques in elaboration and wine production.
[edit] Culture
Valdepeñas has several museums of history, art and wine. There are two Fairs, in August "the summer fair" at the first week and in September known as "Fiesta de la Vendimia" (Grape Harvest Fair).
- Sons:
- One of the city's famous sons is Bernardo de Balbuena, appointed Bishop of Puerto Rico in 1620, who wrote Baroque poetry extolling the beauties of Mexico.
- Luis Merlo de la Fuente Ruiz de Beteta was a Spanish colonial official who briefly served as the Royal Governor of Chile, in 1610-11.
- Gregorio Prieto. Member of the pictorical branch of Generation of '27, friend of Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti, and author of recognized pictures of them. During the decade of 1940 he lived in England with Luis Cernuda. You can visit the most of his work at several museums in Valdepeñas: The Thurst of Gregorio Prieto, The windmills´ Gallery, The Windmill of Gregorio Prieto and the Town Museum.
[edit] Economy
It contains large distilleries, tanneries, flour mills, cooperages, and other factories, but its chief trade is in red wines. The city is famous for its wines and is the centre of a grape-growing district. Valdepeñas wines are among the most popular in Spain and recently in EU countries. There are hot mineral springs near the city. Recently, in addition to the food and wine industry, there’re setting up small and medium industries located in several industrial parks. Leading these industries:
- Plant of production and investigation of Systems in High Electronic Technology.
- The logistic center of Heavy Transport. (Trucks of great tonnage)
- We shouldn’t forget the tourism with D. Quixote Route and the through train of wine with point of departure from Madrid.
[edit] Twin (sister) towns
Its twin town is Cognac, France.
[edit] Gallery
[edit] References
- ^ Valdepeñas record at Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- ^ Population info at citypopulation.de
- ^ Fernando Vasco Merlo "Historia de Valdepeñas"
- ^ Fernando Vasco Merlo "Historia de Valdepeñas", and also in "El Memorial de Don Alonso Merlo de la Fuente" (Noviembre, 1650). Work of Arturo Giráldez (print in “e Humanista Volume 07, 2006”). University of the Pacific. About manuscript keeping in the British Library.
[edit] External links
- Ayuntamiento de Valdepeñas Website of Municipal government (Spanish) and (English) in virtual guided tour.(La Ciudad, visita virtual).
- D.O. Valdepeñas (Spanish) (English)
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