Villena

Coordinates: 38°38′6″N 0°51′57″W / 38.63500°N 0.86583°W / 38.63500; -0.86583
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Villena (disambiguation).
Villena
City
Aerial view of Villena
Archpriestal St. James Church
Atalaya Castle
Chapí Theatre at Paseo Chapí
Municipal Palace (City Hall)
Moors and Christians Festival
Populated places
16 populated places[1]
Government
 • 
UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
03400
WebsiteOfficial website (in Spanish)

Villena (Spanish:

INE 2008.[3]

There is evidence of settlement in the area from

industry, chiefly footwear, construction and furniture.[10]

The historical city and surroundings contain an important group of historical remains,

Moors and Christians festival and the Concurso de Jóvenes Intérpretes "Ruperto Chapí
" (Young Interpreters Contest).

Toponymy

The first known name of the area is Ad Turres, which appears in the

Arabic, meaning "the filled (by Allah)".[16] This Arabic term, documented from the 11th century on,[5] evolved in two ways. On the one hand, following the rules of Medieval Spanish, to Belliena, as is written in the Historia Roderici (around 1180). On the other hand, Belliena was replaced by the Aragonese
term Billena after the Christian conquest, which was carried out mostly by Aragonese. The current spelling was consolidated around the 15th century, since Spanish had totally lost the distinction between [b] and [v] and writing was attracted by the word villa, meaning "town".

Symbols

The coat of arms of Villena has been used traditionally since at least 1477, but has never been made official.

marquisate of Villena. As the coat of arms has never made official, there are different versions according to the City Hall's terms of office, as well as certain polemic about the position of the second and third quarter.[17][18]

Physical geography

Villena is placed northwest in the

Font de la Figuera, Yecla or Caudete made Villena an important transports junction.[20] Villena's municipality, having an area of 345,6 km2 in the second widest in the province of Alicante.[21]

History

Villena region played an important role during the Bronze Age, and in the development of early metallurgy.

Cabezo Redondo is an important archaeological site of the Bronze Age located on a hill 2 km from the town of Villena. It was a regional center inhabited between 1500 and 1100 BC, and probably belonged to Argaric culture.

After the

Cazorla, so both crowns had to sign news treaties: The Treaty of Almizra, Torrellas and Elche
.

After the Christian conquest, Villena becomes the capital of an important

Catholic Monarchs
.

Ancient gold hoards

Treasure of Villena, the second biggest gold find in Europe

The Cabezo Redondo gold hoard was an important archaeological find. It was made by the Spanish

archaeologist José María Soler García
. The treasure was found in 1959, and contains 35 items of jewelry, including a tiara, finger rings, bracelets, and pendants.

Treasure of Villena, another find that is much bigger, was also hidden in the Cabezo Redondo area, near Villena, by its ancient inhabitants.[22] This was also found, in 1963, by José María Soler García. It is the most important ancient treasure find in the Iberian Peninsula and the second one in Europe, just behind that from the Royal Graves in Mycenae, Greece.[23]

This find was not made at Cabezo Redondo, itself, but at the Rambla del Panadero, 5 km east of Villena. Nevertheless, it is believed that, based on its resemblance to the previous Cabezo Redondo hoard, the trove was buried by the ancient inhabitants of Cabezo Redondo.

Sierra de la Villa mountain; close-up the pine grove, up in the right the Salvatierra castle ruins.

Main sights

Events

Moors and Christians
Festival, in September

Villena is home to the most crowded festival of

Moros y Cristianos
in Spain.

It is also home to one of the biggest rock / heavy metal festivals in Spain, Leyendas del Rock, which takes place every August.

Economy

The economy of the city is based on footwear (like in the neighbouring cities of Elda and Novelda), pottery, furnitures and wines.

Sport

Guillermo García-López, and Carlos Alcaraz
.

Transport

Villena is located close to

Renfe
local and regional trains.

Famous citizens

Don Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena

Twin cities

  • don Juan Manuel
    , who was lord of Villena, Escalona and Peñafiel.
  • don Juan Manuel
    , who was lord of Villena, Escalona and Peñafiel.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Nomenclátor. Relación de unidades poblacionales. Villena". ine.es. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  2. ^ Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
  3. INE (January 2008). "Series de población de los municipios de España desde 1996" [Series of population of Spanish municipalities from 1996] (in Spanish). Archived from the original
    on 2004-12-24. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  4. ISBN 978-84-934950-0-8
    . Retrieved August 12, 2009.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-84-934950-0-8
    . Retrieved August 12, 2009.
  6. ^ GARRIDO, David (2008). "Reivindicación del Medioevo villenense" [Claim of Villena's Middle Ages]. Moros y Cristianos · Villena [Moors & Christians · Villena] (in Spanish). Villena: Ayuntamiento de Villena.
  7. ISBN 978-84-934950-0-8
    . Retrieved August 12, 2009.
  8. ISBN 978-84-934950-0-8
    . Retrieved August 12, 2009.
  9. ^ "La construcción de la red ferroviaria alicantina: Proceso de construcción" [Building of the railway network in Alicante: Building process]. 150 años del ferrocarril de Alicante [150 years of railway in Alicante] (in Spanish). Retrieved August 12, 2009.
  10. ^ Pateco. Cámaras de Comercio de la Comunidad Valenciana (Pateco. Commerce Chambers of the Valencian Community) (2002). "Análisis socioeconómico" [Socio-Economic Analysis] (PDF). Plan de Acción Comercial de Villena [Commercial Action Plan for Villena] (in Spanish).
  11. ^ Generalitat Valenciana. Conselleria de Cultura i Esport. Direcció General de Patrimoni Cultural Valencià [Valencian Government. Culture and Sport Council. General Direction of Valencian Cultural Heritage. "Casco antiguo" [Ancient City] (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved August 12, 2009.
  12. Universidad de Alicante
    .
  13. ISBN 84-8186-019-0
    .
  14. MENÉNDEZ PIDAL, Ramón
    (1952). Toponimia prerrománica hispana [Pre-Roman Hispanic toponymy] (in Spanish). Madrid: Gredos.
  15. ^ DOMENE VERDÚ, José Fernando (1986). "El nombre de Villena [The name of Villena]". Revista Villena (36). Villena: Ayuntamiento de Villena.
  16. ^ DOMENE VERDÚ, José Fernando (1983). "Influencia aragonesa en el habla de Villena [Aragonese influence on Villena's speech]". Revista Villena (33). Villena: Ayuntamiento de Villena.
  17. ^ a b "El auténtico escudo de la villa" [The real coat of arms of the town]. Diario La Verdad (in Spanish). January 27, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2009.
  18. ^ "El león de la discordia" [The lion of contention]. Escaño 22: Análisis político de Villena (in Spanish). Retrieved August 12, 2009.
  19. ^ Hernández Alcaraz, Laura; Ayelo Pérez, José, eds. (2003). "Situación Geográfica" [Geographic location]. Villena ¡un tesoro! [Villena, a treasure!] (in Spanish) (3rd ed.). Villena: M.I. Ayuntamiento de Villena, en colaboración con el ITVA.
  20. ^ "Carreteras" [Roads]. Gran Enciclopedia Temática de la Comunidad Valenciana [Great Thematic Encyclopaedia of the Valencian Community] (in Spanish). Vol. Geografía [Geography]. Editorial Prensa Valenciana. 2009.
  21. ^ Portal Civis de la Dirección General de Administración Local. "Información Municipal - Datos de entidades locales · Villena" [Local Information - Local Entities Data · Villena] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2009-04-23. Retrieved August 12, 2009.
  22. ^ Decreto 66/2005, de 1 de abril, por el que se declara Bien de Interés Cultural la Colección Arqueológica del Tesoro de Villena
  23. ^ [Spanish] Culture and Education Ministry (26 February 2003). "RESOLUCIÓN de 7 de enero de 2003, de la Dirección General de Patrimonio Artístico de la Consejería de Cultura y Educación, por la que se incoa expediente de declaración de bien de interés cultural a favor de la colección arqueológica del Tesoro de Villena" [January 7, 2003, RESOLUTION of the General Direction on Artistic Heritage of the Culture and Education Council, which opens a file on the declaration as Good of Cultural Interest (BIC) the archaeologic collection known as Treasure of Villena] (pdf). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (49). Madrid: Spanish Government: 7798–7802. Retrieved December 6, 2009.

    Desde el punto de vista histórico, artístico y arqueológico, el Tesoro de Villena constituye un «unicum», un depósito no normalizado, por su peso y contenido (A. Perea). De hecho, se trata del segundo tesoro de vajilla áurea más importante de Europa, tras el de las Tumbas Reales de Micenas en Grecia (A. Mederos). [From a historic, artistic and archaeological point of view, the Treasure of Villena constitutes a "unicum", a non-normalised deposit, according to its weight and content (A. Perea). In fact, it is the second most important golden tableware finding in Europe, after that of the Royal Graves in Mycenae in Greece (A. Mederos)
  24. ^ a b El Periódico de Villena (August 6, 2008). "Peñafiel, ciudad hermana de Villena, participará en la XIII Feria del Campo" [Peñafiel, twin city of Villena, will take part at the 13th Countryside Fair] (in Spanish). Retrieved August 30, 2009. La Concejalía de Agricultura ha invitado a los Ayuntamientos de Escalona y Peñafiel
  25. ^ Diario Información (September 26, 2008). "La Feria del Campo de Villena abre hoy con más de 160 expositores" [Villena's Countryside Fair open its doors today with more than 160 display stands] (in Spanish). Retrieved August 30, 2009. Por primera vez, Peñafiel, ciudad hermanada con Villena... [For the first time, Peñafiel, twin city of Villena...]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Villena.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Villena".


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