A decimated village and the Virgin of the tree


The N-211 scrapes, burrows and straighteneds itself along the plain and we will soon be bypassing Castellar de la Muela. 


We aren’t going into the village, which today is home to 22 people. This is a tenth of what it was until 1960 - when it plunged to 37 over the next forty years.




Of course the GSH was here in the 1840s.  Here are the edited highlights….  Situated on the eastern slope of a hill called La Muela , and exposed to north and south winds; the most common illnesses are rheumatism and chest ailments. It has 72 houses , distributed from the slope of the aforementioned hill to its summit; the town hall with a jail; a primary school, attended by 30 students, under the charge of a teacher paid 500 reales, and a parish church (The Exaltation of the Holy Cross), served by a priest and a sacristan.   The land , with the exception of some small orchards irrigated by hand with water from wells, is dryland and of fair quality: it comprises 1 pasture with some woodland, populated with steppe, oak and holm oak. Products : wheat, rye, barley, oats, and some legumes; sheep, goat, and cattle farming; hunting of partridges and hares. Population : 46 households and 151 inhabitants.



On the road is the Hermitage of Our Lady of the Holm Oak.  It looks well preserved. It has no reviews or other information




The road continues and we will go to another ruined house. It has a Google reference as the Ruinas de la Venta de Morenilla. It has no reviews.




On we go to the end of the day.














Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A different rooster would crow

Image
  We are pottering along at 91m but will be a mere two by the day’s end.   We are heading for San Vicente de la Barquera. It is one of those places, on a hostile coast, which provided a safer shelter.  As a consequence it got a castle. The place did the usual having Bronze Age chaps loafing about. The Romans made a small port.  It really got going when Alfonso I sent peoples to populate it in the 8th century. The castle was built, the town followed.  Things really got going in 1210 when Alfonso VIII gave the place a charter.  It got the same privileges as San Sebastian. Castro Urdiales, Santander and Laredo.  Along with Laredo, it has not prospered as much.  Fate was not kind.  From the mid 15th century, fires and plagues did not help.  When Charles I visited the town a bullfight was held in his honour.  He fell it at it and had to spend the night at the Convent of San Luis.  The town has a website.  https://aytosanvicente...
Read more

It's a shame the hooligans and the weather ruined some of the views

Image
  We are heading south and cross the Mu-33 and wandering passed the Hospital Materno-Infantil Virgen de la Arrixaca.  We do not need to visit but who can resist a review?  https://www.murciasalud.es/seccion.php?idsec=347   I am always a bit wary of public institution being reviewed as people feel freer to vent.  It gets 3.4 stars.  About 45% are 5 star and 35% 1 star.  Google gives you four options - so here they are: Most relevant. 10 months ago. Mary -  Oncology department is 100% professional, kind and helpful. Pre anaesthesia clinic...receptionist needs some training in basic manners. The consultant on the other hand was 100% fantastic. Wish I'd made a note of his name to thank him. Newest. Gonzalo. A day ago. Five stars. Highest.  See Mary’s above. Lowest.  Three years ago.  Lorne  ‘Horrendous waiting times for simple things. Stay away from going here if you can!’ Time for  sit. La Taberna de la Tia Maria.  Two w...
Read more

The birth place of the long-sword, short-term.

Image
We are heading to Loja. We will edge around La Esperanza and as there is a Cafe Bar La Esperanza so let us go there first.  This one of those ones where the place gets 3.8 stars, from only fifty reviews. The mode average is 5, notably five. Four comes next, then three.  The four [8%] of one stars are very old.  Seven years ago Franqc reckons the place was dirty.  Five years ago jose complained of the covid risk of a lack of masks.  Two of the three two stars were six years ago.  Let's look at the recent ones. Nothing is more recent than a year. The most recent with comments was two years ago.  El empotrador Justiciero said ‘Good place to eat perfectly cooked roast meat, roast ham too, and especially the skewers were delicious grilled. I will go back.’ We will cross the river and enter Loja, about 21,000 people in the municipality.  Traces of everyone once lived here, even the Romans, although it wasn’t until 1991 that this was proved. It was the M...
Read more