Castro Urdiales (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkastɾowɾˈðjales] ) is a seaport of northern Spain, in the autonomous community of Cantabria, situated on the Bay of Biscay. Castro Urdiales is a modern town, although its castle and the Gothic-style parish church of Santa María de la Asunción, date from the Middle Ages. Its chief industries are tourism, fishing, and oil-packing of fish, especially sardines and anchovies. [2] The Lolin and La Castreña anchovy canning factories serve as a reminder of the town's closeness to this industry and its proximity to the sea.
Although the number of people registered in the town is around 32,000, the summer population can double or even triple this figure. The town is popular because of its beaches and scenic harbor.
Castro Urdiales was originally called Portus Amanum, and was the chief city of the Autrigones. In AD 74 a Roman colony was established under the name Flaviobriga, during the reign of emperor Vespasian. It was most likely established to mine the abundant iron in the area. [3]
In 1163 the town of Castro Urdiales received its municipal charter. [4] It lay at the western tip of the coastline of Navarre until 1200, when the kingdom was invaded by Alfonso VIII of Castile. [5] [6] Castro Urdiales benefited much from its location at a crossroads in the trade between northern Europe and Castile. It remained in Biscay until 1476 at least, but it is not cited in the seigneury's assemblies thereafter. [7] Until the 18th century, the town recurrently attempted a reincorporation to Biscay (attested in 1799), but its attempts were met with the frontal refusal of Bilbao on account that it could tip the scale against its own trade balance. [8]
It was destroyed by the French in 1813, but was speedily rebuilt and fortified. Its rapid rise in population and prosperity dates from the increased development of iron mining and railway communication which took place after 1879. [2]
The monument complex of Castro Urdiales, also known as Puebla Vieja, has medieval origins and is located near the sea. It was declared a Conjunto histórico in 1978.
The Church of Santa María de la Asunción is in Gothic style. Built under the protection of King Alfonso VIII of Castile in the 13th century (though it was finished in the 15th century), it is a basilica church with three naves. In the interior are the images of the White Virgin and the Reclining Christ, and three Gothic carvings of the Magi. It was declared a National Monument in 1931.
The Castle of Santa Ana is located near the port and the church of Santa María de la Asunción. In modern times it housed a lighthouse.
Other sights include:
Cantabria is an autonomous community and province in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a comunidad histórica, a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east by the Basque autonomous community, on the south by Castile and León, on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea, which forms part of the Bay of Biscay.
Biscay or Bizkaia, is a province of the Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao.
Basque nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts that Basques, an ethnic group indigenous to the western Pyrenees, are a nation and promotes the political unity of the Basques, today scattered between Spain and France. Since its inception in the late 19th century, Basque nationalism has included Basque independence movements.
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The Kingdom of Navarre, originally the Kingdom of Pamplona occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, with its northernmost areas originally reaching the Atlantic Ocean, between present-day Spain and France.
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Balmaseda is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country. Balmaseda is the capital city of the comarca of Enkarterri, in western Biscay and serves an important role in the province thanks to its proximity to the capital city of Bilbao and the regions of Cantabria and Castile and León.
Durango is a town and municipality of the historical territory and province of Biscay, located in the Basque Country, Spain. It is the main town of Durangaldea, one of the comarcas of Biscay. Because of its economical activities and population, Durango is considered one of the largest towns in Biscay after the ones that compose the conurbation of Greater Bilbao.
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Aracena is a town and municipality located in the province of Huelva, southwestern Spain. As of 2012, the city has a population of 7,814 inhabitants. The town derived its name from the Sierra de Aracena, which is part of the Sierra Morena system.
BizkaiBus is the name for bus services serving the province of Biscay, Spain. It is named after the Basque name of the province, Bizkaia. The buses can be identified by their distinctive green livery.
The Basques are an indigenous ethno-linguistic group mainly inhabiting the Basque Country. Their history is therefore interconnected with Spanish and French history and also with the history of many other past and present countries, particularly in Europe and the Americas, where a large number of their descendants keep attached to their roots, clustering around Basque clubs which are centers for Basque people.
Frías is a town located in the northern part of the province of Burgos, in Castile and León, Spain. In 2010 it had a population of only 275 inhabitants.
The Diocese of Bilbao is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Bilbao and Province of Biscay in Northern Spain. It is part of the ecclesiastical province of Burgos.
A trainera is a traditional boat of the Cantabrian Sea coast at the southern end of the Bay of Biscay, propelled by oars, and formerly sailing. It is a boat of fine lines with raised prow and rounded stern, to resist the waves of the Cantabrian sea. Traineras were originally used by fishermen to bring in the day’s catch of anchovies and sardines from sea to market, usually competing to sell their caught fish before others came in. Today, this historical tradition has become a major sport of coastal boat racing.
Pamplona Cathedral(Santa María de la Asunción) is a Roman Catholic church in the archdiocese of Pamplona, Spain. The current 15th century Gothic church replaced an older Romanesque one. Archaeological excavations have revealed the existence of another two earlier churches. The Neoclassical façade was designed by Ventura Rodríguez in 1783. It has a 13th-14th-century Gothic cloister that provides access to two other Gothic rooms: the Barbazan chapel and the refectory. The Mediaeval kings of Navarre were crowned and some also buried there. The Navarrese Cortes (Parliament) was held there during the early modern ages.
The Peace of Támara also known as the Pact of Támara was a peace treaty signed in Támara de Campos in June 1127 which delimited the territorial domains of Kings Alfonso I of Aragón and Alfonso VII of Castile.
Nuestra Señora de la Asunción is a Roman Catholic church in Bujalance, Andalusia, southern Spain.
In Cantabria, there is a big number of fortified towers that fulfilled functions of housing and defense. These buildings, generally battlements, were erected mostly between the 13th and 15th centuries by noble families and influenced significantly in the architecture of Cantabria, passing some to be forts-houses, prelude to the future casona montañesa. A curious fact is that there are not in the region circular towers, as yes happens in the neighboring community of Asturias. Currently of the towers that survives several are in a deplorable condition.
The Hermandad of the Cuatro Villas de la Costa de la Mar, also cited under the name Cuatro Villas de la Costa de Cantabria, was a medieval and modern administrative entity that grouped the coastal cities of the north of the kingdom of Castile, all of them part of present-day Cantabria; namely, from west to east: San Vicente de la Barquera, Santander, Laredo, and Castro-Urdiales. At the end of the 15th century, it became part of the corregimiento of the Cuatro Villas along with other territories in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. In 1514 the province was renamed the corregimiento de las Tres Villas de la Costa, by separation from the town of San Vicente, which rejoined in 1521. Towns twinned since the 13th century, its foundation as a corregimiento dates back to the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, around 1496, surviving until its inclusion in the province of Cantabria in 1778.