Ademuz

History

The many archaeological remains still present from different time periods—Neolithic, Iberian, Roman—reveal an early occupation of the area. Notwithstanding, the first written references are Arabic ones, focusing on its castle, whose advantageous emplacement dominated the Turia river and its natural passage from the lands of Aragon to the city of Valencia.

The Muslim fortress of Al-Dāmūs was conquered by Peter II of Aragon in 1210, with the aid of the hospitalier and templar knights, who were rewarded with the right to collect some taxes from the area. It fell back into Muslim hands shortly thereafter. It was finally incorporated into the kingdom of Valencia by James I of Aragon, who put it under direct control of the crown, together with the other historical village of the comarca, Castielfabib.

As a royal villa, Ademuz periodically sent an elected representative to the Corts Valencianes. As a frontier fortress, it suffered from the wars with Castile in the 14th century: both Ademuz and Castielfabib were invaded and occupied by Peter I of Castile. The heroic defense and the loyalty of its population were later rewarded by Peter IV of Aragón and his immediate successors, who gave the villa new rights and privileges.

From the beginnings of the 14th century onwards, Ademuz and its countryside were also an Encomienda of the Order of Montesa, which anyway never ruled over Ademuz, limiting itself to collect some taxes they had rights over.

On June 7, 1656, the villa suffered a massive earthquake which destroyed the primitive church of San Pedro Intramuros, the city council and forty other houses; the ramparts and the towers of the castle, which had been built surrounding the top of the mountain were also destroyed. Notwithstanding, Ademuz's castle will still prove its worth during the many civil wars of the 19th century, with it being occupied and (supposedly) rebuilt several times by carlist troops.

The two original municipalities which existed in the Rincón's comarca, Castielfabib and Ademuz, became fragmented over time, affecting specially that of Ademuz, from which several villages seceded as they reached some populational and economical importance: Vallanca (17th century), Puebla de San Miguel (18th century), Casas Altas y Casas Bajas (both during the 19th century).

Geography

Ademuz is situated in the middle of the Rincón de Ademuz, a Spanish comarca belonging to Valencian Community representing an exclave situated between the territories of the provinces of Cuenca (Castile-La Mancha) and Teruel (Aragon). The town counts three pedanías (civil parishes): Mas del Olmo, Segsa and Val de la Sabina.

Demography

As of the 2008 census of INE, the population of Ademuz was 1,269. ImageSize = width:450 height:220 PlotArea = left:70 right:40 top:20 bottom:20 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify Colors = id:gray1 value:gray(0.9) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:5000 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5000 start:0 gridcolor:gray1 PlotData = bar:1842 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3033 width:15 text:3033 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1877 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3339 width:15 text:3339 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1900 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3415 width:15 text:3415 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1920 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:4092 width:15 text:4092 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1940 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3866 width:15 text:3866 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1960 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:2827 width:15 text:2827 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1981 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:1545 width:15 text:1545 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2001 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:1115 width:15 text:1115 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2005 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:1157 width:15 text:1157 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2008 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:1269 width:15 text:1269 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2009 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:1286 width:15 text:1286 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2011 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:1250 width:15 text:1250 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2019 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:1042 width:15 text:1042 textcolor:red fontsize:8px

Gallery

File:Verge de l'Horta -Ademús-.JPG|Church of Nuestra Señora de la Huerta, 14th century File:Castell d'Ademuz.jpg|Ademuz castle File:Casa de la Villa-Ademuz.JPG|Town hall

References

Literature

• Candel Tortajada, F.: Viaje al Rincón de Ademuz. Barcelona, 1977.
• Eslava Blasco, R.: Ademuz y su patrimonio histórico-artístico. Ademuz, 2007.

References

1. Ver: Raúl Eslava Blasco, [http://rincondeademuz.wikispaces.com/file/view/50-Gentilicios+del+Rinc%C3%B3n+de+Ademuz.pdf ''Gentilicios del Rincón de Ademuz'', en la revista ''ABABOL'', nº 50, año 2007]
2. Source: [http://www.ine.es/intercensal/index INE - Demographics of Spanish municipalities since 1842] {{webarchive. link. (2009-03-11 and [http://www.ine.es/inebase2/leer.jsp?L=0&divi=DPOP&his=0 since 1996] {{webarchive). link. (2009-08-13)