Magaña (Soria) (0)

Did you know that... Magaña

It's a small town located in the northeast of the province of Soria, belongs to the region of Tierras Altas and is bathed by the waters of the river Alhama. Because of its situation Magaña could have had population settlement since time immemorial. Signs of the Bronze Age, 2nd and 1st century B.C., have appeared on the hill of the castle where remains from the late Roman period, 4th and 5th centuries A.D., have also been found. In the tenth century, when the Muslim occupation, the area was also inhabited and from this remains the watchtower around which centuries later the castle would be built. The tenth and eleventh centuries were times of continuous fighting between the Muslims and the Christian kings for control of these lands, centuries in which Magaña was reconquered by the kings of Pamplona, who repopulated it and later became part of the kingdom of Castilla. The first written document in which Magaña appears dates from the 12th century, when in the times of King Alfonso VIII, this town was so important that several villages and towns were grouped around it, giving rise to the Community of Villa and Tierra de Magaña and when this king granted it a charter. It was a royal town for three centuries and then became a stately town. In the mid-fifteenth century, the lordship of Magaña belonged to the Count Álvaro de Luna, and later became the property of the Dukes of Alba and the Marquis of Vadillo. In the 19th century Magaña became a constitutional municipality in the region of Castilla la Vieja and at the end of the 20th century the municipality of Magaña grew as Pobar was incorporated into it.

To discover What to see in Magaña?

Although in Magaña there were neighbourhoods such as San Miguel, San Salvador, Hiruelas, Monastery, La Solana, Barruso and La Vega, each with its own church or hermitage, at present its nucleus is divided into two neighbourhoods: Arriba, at the foot of the castle hill, and Abajo, with its streets running parallel to the river. The castle of Magaña, built in the 15th century, is considered one of the most important stately castles of this period in the province of Soria. The tower of homage, built before the rest of the fortress, stands out. The visitor can also admire the parish church of San Martín, built in the 16th century on the ruins of a Romanesque hermitage. The church holds inside the carving of the Virgin of Monastery, in Romanesque style, from the old Monastery hermitage, now in ruins. The hermitage of the Virgin of Barruso, of possible pre-Romanesque origin, curiously has the head semi-excavated in the rock, its altarpiece of the 17th century is presided over by a Romanesque carving of the Virgin of Barruso, patron saint of Villa and Earth, from the 13th century.

Festivities

In Magaña in November, around San Martín, its inhabitants get together to eat a sardinade and on January 17, San Antón, they light bonfires. During May Easter, the image of Nuestra Señora de Barruso is carried in a procession from the hermitage to the church, where it spends the summer, and on the penultimate Sunday in August it is again carried in a procession to leave it at the hermitage.

Traditions

In Magaña it is very traditional, and makes the delight of own and visitors, the mostillo that is a sweet based on mead, flour and nuts. It is also said that in Magaña it was customary to distribute bibitoque or almond, walnuts, almonds, bread and wine, and that the wine was drunk in silver cups, which are still preserved.

Curiosities

Magaña has within its municipal district the place of Community Interest known as Cigudosa-San Felices and it of, also, Community Interest known as Oncala-Valtajeros, both included in the Natura 2000 Network.

The Legend

Legend has it that the Virgin of Nuestra Señora de Barruso was brought from Antequera by a shepherd. Another local remembers that as a child a bell was hung from a tree and a country mass was said in honour of the Virgin of Verducea, another of the images to which a chapel, also in ruins for a long time, was dedicated, and it is believed that this bell belonged to that ancient temple.

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