Pedraza (Segovia)

Pedraza is a Spanish municipality and town in the province of Segovia, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. It is a walled medieval town, whose rehabilitation led to its declaration as a Historic Site in 1951. The municipal area, whose population amounts to 341 inhabitants (INE 2022), includes the towns of Pedraza, Rades de Abajo and La Velilla.

Geography

Fragment of Page 458 of the 2014 National Topographic Map of Spain in which Pedraza is represented

It is located 37 km northeast of the capital Segovia.

Northwest: Valleruela de Pedraza, Arahuetes	North: enclave of Montecillo (La Matilla), Orejana	Northeast: Orejana
West: Arahuetes		This: Arcons
Southwest: Santiuste de Pedraza	South: Brush, Gallegos	Sureste: Matabuena

Map of the municipality

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Interactive map — Pedraza (Segovia) and its municipal term

History

Its name seems to derive from the Roman Pretaria, although the first historical data goes back to Fernando Gómez de Albornoz, senior commander of Montalbán, who was named lord of Pedraza by King Enrique II of Castile (privilege dated June 10, 1369). Later it passed into the hands of the Herrera family and at the end of the XV century it passed to the Constables of Castile for the marriage between Blanca Herrera and Bernardino Fernández de Velasco. It remained in these hands until the XIX century when the lordships were abolished. The constables settled there, being the place a transit point for great personalities, such as artists, nobles and monarchs.

In the 16th and XVII the period of greatest splendor of the town took place, and it is from when most of the houses and palaces date. This prosperity was due, among other reasons, to the export to northern Europe of the wool from its flocks of Merino sheep and its excellent fabrics, capable of competing with the best that were made in Flanders.

Demographics

Population developments

Graphic of demographic evolution of Pedraza between 1828 and 2021

Population according to Geographical-Statistic Dictionary of Spain and Portugal Sebastian Miñano.Rule population (1842-1897, except 1857 and 1860 which is a de facto population) according to population censuses of the centuryXIX.Population of law (1900-1991) or resident population (2001-2011) according to population censuses of the INE.Population according to the municipal register of 2021 of the INE.

Symbols

The heraldic shield that represents the municipality is emblazoned as follows:

I hear half a game. First, of gules with an ochavada tower of gold, enlarged and mazonada of sable, placed on peñas of silver. Second, toss with a gold band, accompanied on top of a silver lion. Tied of the Spanish Royal Crown.

Official State Gazette no. 81/1995 of 5 April 1995

The textual description of the flag is as follows:

Square flag of proportion 2:3, red, with a yellow cross, from edge to edge, and sprout to the center, the municipal shield in its colors.

Official State Gazette no. 81/1995 of 5 April 1995

Administration and politics

List of mayors

Mayors since the 1979 elections

Period	Name	Party
1979-1983	Easter teodoro	UCD
1983-1987	Easter teodoro	COP
1987-1991	Easter teodoro	PDP
1991-1995	Easter teodoro	P
1995-1999	Pedro Martín Arcones	PSOE
1999-2003	Pedro Martín Arcones	PSOE
2003-2007	Pedro Martín Arcones	P
2007-2011	Pedro Martín Arcones	P
2011-2015	Pedro Martín Arcones	P
2015-2019	Pedro Martín Arcones	P
2019-	Pedro Martín Arcones	P

Monuments and places of interest

Pedraza from the access road

Door of the villa

View of the main square

Castle view

Church square

Typical street with the church of San Juan at the bottom

Villa gate

The door of the town is the only access to Pedraza, and therefore it is used as the only entrance and exit from the town. Its origins date back to the 11th century, and it was rebuilt in the XVI being Lord of Pedraza Íñigo Fernández de Velasco, whose coat of arms presides over the entrance. The gates are made of black poplar wood and for several centuries they were closed at night, preventing the entry or exit of anyone except an emergency; in such a case it was the jailer who was responsible for opening the door.

Jail

The Pedraza prison is located in what was originally a watchtower in the place where the town gate is located. The jailer lived in it and there were several adjoining rooms where the prisoners lived badly. For common criminals, usually thieves, there were two cells made of 3x3 meter wood through which hardly any light entered and in which up to fifteen people could be imprisoned for several days.

For blood crimes, a more cruel fate was reserved, since the prisoners were thrown individually into a lower room, which frequently caused injuries or breaks in the legs and ankles, thus reducing the possibility to almost zero. on the run The prisoner died after a few days, and since the jailer had to call the executioner of Segovia and pay him to take the body, the next prisoner who was thrown into said room was given a basket and he himself was in charge of picking it up and giving it to him. to the jailer, who sold it as fertilizer for the land.

The other prisoners were thrown into another room through a trapdoor, which also caused broken limbs. Apart from the physical punishment that involved a fall from several meters, the criminals suffered the torment of living in a room specially designed so that the excrements of the prisoners from the upper floors were evacuated in it. All this produced a slow agony in the prisoner until he died from injuries or infections.

There was another room for pre-trial prisoners, in which they were released during the day, but at nightfall and for the safety of the jailer, who lived there in the jail, they were thrown on a wooden board with their feet attached to it. a stock and their heads shackled to the wall or placed them standing on the wall and put a shackle on them, holding their heads, depending on the cruelty of the jailer, at the height of the prisoner or at a higher height for the prisoner to pass through tiptoe night The jail was restored in the 20th century and is preserved as a museum, showing what a medieval jail was like.

Castle

The castle of Pedraza is a fortress built in the XIII century that was rebuilt in the XV by García Herrera. At the beginning of the XVI century, the Dukes of Frías, Constables of Castile, reformed the castle again, adding the large defensive wall attached to it to the keep and the outer wall equipped with gun emplacements and a drawbridge (now disappeared). The castle has an imposing keep, a moat, and is surrounded on most of its perimeter by a precipice.

Front view of the castle of Pedraza

Two sons of King Francis I of France, the Dauphin Francis III of Brittany and his younger brother who reigned as Henry II of France, were imprisoned in this fortress. They had been handed over by their father as hostages to Emperor Charles V. To free them, the French king had to comply with the agreements of the Treaty of Madrid, of 1526, signed after the defeat of the army of Francisco I in the battle of Pavia, where he was taken prisoner.. In the castle of Pedraza they remained for two years, until March 1530, when by the Peace of the Ladies they were returned to France. Previously they had been in the castles of Villalba, Villalpando and Berlanga de Duero and a short rest stage in Castilnovo. Like Pedraza, all these fortresses belonged to the Fernández de Velasco family, Dukes of Frías and Constables of Castile. The documentation on these events is kept in the General Archive of Simancas.

In 1926, the painter Ignacio Zuloaga acquired the castle and severely restored it, setting up a workshop there. The painter's heirs adapted one of the towers for the public exhibition of part of the artist's work.

Others

• Church of San Juan: A church built in Romanesque style, later remodeled with baroque details.
• Carcel of the villa, located next to the only gateway to the town, dates from the centuryXIIIwith subsequent reforms.
• Porticada square in Spanish style.

Porticated main square of Pedraza (art historical set)

Culture

The night of candlelight

Night of candles in Pedraza

The town is adorned with thousands of candles at the beginning of July (first and second Saturdays of that month). Public lights are turned off and many windows are closed if you want to turn on any light in order to highlight the lighting of the streets, windows, squares, gardens and patios. The simple placement of the lit candles takes several hours in the late afternoon. That night a concert is usually held and the capacity of the town is limited.

Festivities in honor of the Virgen del Carrascal

From September 7 to 12, the festivities in honor of the Virgen del Carrascal are celebrated in Pedraza. The procession with the image of the Virgin, which is celebrated on the 8th, and the running of the bulls that takes place on the 9th, are especially relevant in these festivities.

Legends

• Legend of the Castle. That tells the story of disamour in the centuryXIII between two young locals in love, called Elvira and Roberto. This ended with the murder of him by the count of Elvira's husband castle, placing on his head an incandescent metal crown during a public ceremony. Soon after the suicide of her. Since then many people claim that during some nights of the year, the castle can be seen walking to two figures with aureolas of fire on their heads, ghosts that some attribute to the evil lovers.

• Legend of the Piron Tuer. Fernando Delgado Sanz, nicknamed the Pirón Tuerto, was a bandit born in the neighboring town of Santo Domingo de Pirón. The Piron Tuerto robbed the rich, assaulted churches and roads, the village of Pedraza where it had great activity, was the northern end of its control zone.

Gastronomy

The gastronomy of the town corresponds to the traditional one of the province, highlighting the roast lamb, the bean from La Granja, the roast suckling pig or the Segovian punch.

Movie Set

The medieval character of Pedraza has inspired multiple film directors for the shooting of his works in this town

Pedraza has served as the setting for the filming of various films and series:

Movies

Television Series

• The rogue (1974)
• The Disasters of War (1983)
• Red Eagle (2009)
• Earth of wolves (2010)
• Isabel (2012)
• Toledo, crossing of destinations (2012)
• 30 coins (2020)

Distinguished neighbors