Mayorga

Mayorga is a municipality and town in Spain, in the province of Valladolid, autonomous community of Castilla y León. It has a population of 1,471 inhabitants (INE, 2021).

Geography

View of the vega of the river Cea

It is integrated into the Tierra de Campos region of the province of Valladolid, located 78 kilometers from the provincial capital. It is the third largest term in the province, with 163.4 square kilometers of land dedicated mainly to livestock and agriculture. Its municipal term is crossed by the N-601 road between pK 264 and 274 before passing to the province of León.

The relief of the territory is typical of Tierra de Campos with the influence of the fertile plain of the Cea river that crosses it from northeast to southwest. The town rises to 776 meters above sea level, the altitude of the municipality fluctuating between 821 meters from the Teso del Morisco and 739 from the banks of the Cea river.

Northwest: Matanza de los Oteros (León)	North: Izagre (Leon)	Northeast: Saelices de Mayorga
West: Castilfalé (Leon)		This: Villalba de la Loma
Southwest: Gordoncillo (Leon)	South: La Unión de Campos, Castrobol, Urones de Castroponce y Becilla de Valderaduey	Sureste: Castroponce

It limits to the north with the province of León (among other municipalities Izagre), to the east with the municipalities of Saelices de Mayorga, Villalba de la Loma and Villagómez, and to the south with the municipalities of Castroponce and Castrobol.

Nature

Part of its municipal area is integrated into the ZEPA Penillalanuras-Campos Norte.

History

General view of the village, mid-twentieth century

Its origins seem to be in the ancient Meóriga cited by the astronomer, geographer and mathematician Ptolemy (s. II a. C.) among the vacceo towns inhabitants of these lands in pre-Roman times.

In the Middle Ages it was a strategic stronghold, on the border between the kingdoms of Castile and León, thanks to its privileged viewpoint that dominates the northern plain in a beautiful location on the plain of the Cea river. It is because of this that sometimes it belonged to Castilla and sometimes to León.

Between the years 1172 and 1175 it belonged to Fernando Rodríguez de Castro el Castellano, a member of the House of Castro, who received it from the hands of the Crown, since before it had belonged to Count Osorio Martínez, who died in the Battle of Lobregal, delivered in 1160.

In 1213 Pedro Fernández de Castro el Castellano, son of Fernando Rodríguez de Castro el Castellano, donated to the Cistercian Monastery of Santa María de Sobrado all that he owned in the town of Mayorga and its surroundings, properties with which the Granja de Terrados, located to the north of Mayorga and next to the Cea river, acquiring for 3,000 maravedíes the rights that his brother, Martín Fernández de Castro, had there, who confirmed the sale a year later, in 1216.

It was the occasional residence of King Ferdinand II of León and his son Alfonso IX. From 1430 it was part of the possessions granted by the monarch Juan II to Don Rodrigo Alonso de Pimentel, II Count of Benavente. Formerly walled, only one of its four gates remains, that of the Sun located to the east, today known as the Arch, and on the south side of the town a part of the wall known as "El Foso". Nothing remains of the castle that was located in the west where today the swimming pools and the sports center are located.

Demographics

House consistorial

Jurisdictional roll

In 2017 the population of the municipality amounted to 1618 inhabitants.

Graphic of demographic evolution of Mayorga between 1900 and 2017

Population of law (1900-1991) or resident population (2001 and 2011) according to population censuses of the INE. Population according to the 2017 municipal plan of the INE.

Monuments and places of interest

Church of Santa Maria de Arbas

Church of Santa Maria del Mercado

Church of Santa Marina

• Rollo (centuryXVI). It is the symbol of justice and civil jurisdiction of the time.
• Church of Santa Maria de Arbas. Monument catalogued as an Art History, is one of the best Mudejar art exponents in the Land of Campos area. The interior is accessed through a pointed horseshoe arch. Two altarpieces of the century are preservedXVIII and others of the Rococo style and sculptures of San Antón and San Roque.
• Church of Santa Marina. Mudejar building at the end of the centuryXV. Built in brick and upholstery. The entrance door, with a beautiful rainbow made of brick, should be highlighted externally. The building presents a main nave with semi-circular apse with a covered wooden view with entablamento of great beauty. At the bottom is the choir located on the upper floor highlighting the forefather of Gothic-style limestone traceries.
• Church of Santa Maria del Mercado. Mudejar building at the end of the centuryXV from such characteristics to the above, distinguished by its curious staggered tower covered by a polychrome glazed ceramic roof on one of its faces.
• The parish church of the Saviour. Recently built building (1971), which receives the name of the church that existed in the same place and of which only the tower is preserved. The tower is of the centuryXVII and it has two solid stone bodies of square plant, being narrower the high. Encima has the brick bell tower and ochava shape, also of two bodies. It's crowned with a dome. In the interior of the church it is worth highlighting the Retablo Mayor (1498), from the church of Santa María de Arbas, which consists of 24 paintings on board, work of the master Palanquinos. Other ancient altarpieces, 12 parish crossings and 30 silver chalices are also preserved.
• Muralla de Mayorga. From the original wall of the centuryXIII is preserved one of the four original doors, the Sun gate located east, today known as the Arch.

Culture

Parties

Civic Procession of the Victor

The most important festival in Mayorga is El Vítor, declared a Festival of National Interest, which is celebrated on September 27 of each year and commemorates the arrival of the relics of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo to Mayorga from Peru. During that night, the town turns off its lights and begins a procession of great visual impact that, starting from the Church of Santo Toribio, travels through the streets with the sole illumination of the fire of the hundreds of skins covered with burning fish that the mayorganos carry, following a tradition that passes from father to son.

After the September Fiestas, the annual Trovada de Habaneras is perhaps the most important festive-cultural event of the year. It has been celebrated since 1993, and its dates always coincide with the last weekend of July. The great tradition of singing habaneras existing in Mayorga was what encouraged a group of Mayorganos to create this Contest that today is known throughout Spain. Groups from all over the country come to interpret habaneras, and a Round Table is also held in which personalities from the habanera world present their studies and talks about different facets of this musical genre.

Bread Museum

The oldest mailbox in Spain

Museum of the Pan

The Bread de Mayorga Museum opened its doors to the public on February 14, 2009. It is considered to be the only one dedicated to this product in Spain. The museum complex is located within the urban area, on the Sahagún highway no. Its intention is to publicize bread, its varieties, its production processes, its presence in other cultures and its evolution throughout history.

Distinguished neighbors