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Albelda de Iregua

Albelda de Iregua
View of Albelda de Iregua (La Rioja, Spain)
View of Albelda de Iregua (La Rioja, Spain)
Official seal of Albelda de Iregua
Seal
EspañaLoc.svg
Country  Spain Spain
Autonomous Communities of Spain Flag of La Rioja (with coat of arms).svg La Rioja
Province Flag of La Rioja (with coat of arms).svg La Rioja
Region Bandera de Logroño.png Logroño
Government
 • Mayor Rosa Ana Zorzano Cámara (PP)
Area
 • Total 23.03 km2 (8.89 sq mi)
Population (2008)
 • Total 3,098 inhabitants
  (INE)
Postal code 26120
Website www.albelda.org

Albelda de Iregua is a village in the province and autonomous community of La Rioja, Spain. The municipality covers an area of 23.03 square kilometres (8.89 sq mi) and as of 2011 had a population of 3339 people.

Albelda is located south of Logroño in the lower Iregua valley. This provides a fertile land for growing fruit.

The village is bounded on the north by Lardero and Alberite, to the east by Clavijo, to the south by Nalda and to the west by Sorzano and Entrena.

Within its terrains were the unpopulated communities of Longares, depopulated in the 12th century, Morcuera, deserted in the 14th century and Mucrones.

In 1063 the Bishop of Nájera approved a Town Charter for the population, under the name Longares.

The town had a Jewish community since the 10th century till the Spanish Jewish Inquisition in 1492. During that period of time, about 35 families lived in the town, paying taxes to the local bishop. Several Jews acquire the surname of the town, such as Moses Albelda (died 1545), a bible commentator who lived in Turkey and assumed to have ancestors from the town, who escaped to Turkey during the Inquisition.

Its name may come from the Arabic term with the article Bayda Al, which means 'The White'. On the other hand, the etymology of the word Albelda proposed by the historian Urbano Espinosa points to the toponym Albalda/Albeilda (in Spanish), the village, as recorded in the Christian chronicles and consolidated during the Muslim rule (8th and 9th centuries). Its meaning has to do with the set of three monasteries located in the townships of Nalda and Albelda: San Pantaleon (in Nalda), and the monasteries of Albelda and Las Tapias, in Albelda itself.

As at 1 January 2010 the population of Albelda de Iregua was 3,291 persons, 1727 men and 1564 women.


General view of the area

Parish church tower

Santa Isabel Hermitage

Nuestra Señora de Bueyo Hermitage

Santa Fe de Palazuelos Hermitage

Coordinates: 42°22′N 2°28′W / 42.367°N 2.467°W / 42.367; -2.467


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Wikipedia

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