Écija
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Écija () is a city and
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...
of
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
belonging to the
province of Seville The Province of Seville ( es, Sevilla) is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Málaga, Cádiz in the south, Huelva in the west, Badajoz in the north and ...
, in the autonomous community of
Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...
. It is in the countryside, 85 km east of the city of
Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsul ...
. According to the 2008 census, Écija had a total population of 40,100 inhabitants, ranking as the fifth most populous municipality in the province. The river
Genil The Genil River is the main (left) tributary of the river Guadalquivir in Andalusia, Spain. The Roman ''Singilis'', its modern name derives from the Moorish rendering of the Roman name: ''Sinyil, Sannil'', and ''Sinnil''. Route The source of the ...
, the main tributary of the river
Guadalquivir The Guadalquivir (, also , , ) is the fifth-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second-longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is the only major navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable from the Gu ...
, runs through the city. The economy of Écija is based on agriculture (
olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
s,
cereal A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more foo ...
s and vegetables), cattle (cows and horses) and
textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not t ...
industry. The most distinctive feature of the urban landscape of Écija are the city's Baroque bell towers.


History


Roman Astigi

Ancient Iberian finds date back to the 8th century BC, and there are several archaeological remains of later
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and Roman settlements. In Roman times the town was at first known as ''Astigi''. During the Roman civil war Écija stood "firmly" at the side of Julius Caesar in the Battle of Munda. As a reward Caesar ordered the town's fortification and refounded it as a Julian colony, possibly ''Colonia Iulia Firma Astigitana''. Under the reign of
Octavian Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
, the later emperor Augustus, the colony was strengthened according to Caesar's construction plans, and its name was finalised as ''Colonia Iulia Augusta Firma Astigitana''. According to
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ...
and
Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died  AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nearly to the year 1500. It occupies less ...
, who both wrote in the 1st century AD, it was the rival of Cordova and
Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsul ...
. Astigi was an important town of
Hispania Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basic d ...
, as well as the seat of the Astigitanus, one of the four ''conventi'' where the chief men met together at fixed times of the year under the eye of the proconsul to oversee the administration of justice. It was also from an early date the seat of a diocese. St. Fulgentius (died before 633), was named to the see by his brother Isidore of Seville. With the
Reconquista The ' ( Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Na ...
, by which areas that had been held by Muslims were restored to Christian hands, the archdiocese of Seville was recovered, leading to the overshadowing of nearby Astigi, whose territory was joined to that of the archdiocese in 1144. Astigi thus ceased to be a residential diocese and is today listed by the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
as a
titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...
.


Post-Roman

After the Romans, it was ruled by successively by Suevs and
Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...
. In 711, Écija was conquered by an Islamic army on its way to Córdoba, meeting strong opposition from the population, who offered a 6-month-long resistance before capitulating. Capital of an extensive , Écija (known as ''Istiǧǧa'' during the Muslim era) preserved its condition as a centre of high agricultural productivity, featuring a cereal-based production (
wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeolog ...
,
barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley ...
,
sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family ( Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many ot ...
). Enjoying from productive agricultural systems able to sustain several harvests a year, Écija served as food provider for Córdoba and Seville. The city walls were demolished in the early 10th century as punishment for the local support to the rebellion against
Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
rule led by
Umar ibn Hafsun Umar ibn Hafsun ibn Ja'far ibn Salim ( ar, عمر بن حَفْصُون بن جَعْفَ بن سالم) (c. 850 – 917), known in Spanish history as Omar ben Hafsun, was a 9th-century political and military leader ...
. New walls, enclosing a smaller area than the Roman era ''Astigi'' were built by
Almohad The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire fou ...
s, tightening the size of the ''medina''. The place was seized by Christians on 3 May 1240. The proximity to the newly born
Nasrid Kingdom of Granada ) , common_languages = Official language:Classical ArabicOther languages: Andalusi Arabic, Mozarabic, Berber, Ladino , capital = Granada , religion = Majority religion:Sunni IslamMinority religions:Roman Ca ...
turned Écija into a border town for years to come. Écija soon became a ''realengo'', a territory directly dependent on the Crown (of Castile). Most of the
mudéjar Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for ...
population was expelled in 1263. The countryside of Écija greatly suffered from the
Marinid The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) ar ...
'' razzias'' in the Guadalquivir Valley initiated in 1275. The Jewish population of Écija apparently suffered the antisemitic revolt initiated after the assault on the jewry of Seville in June 1391, that spread across Andalusia and much of the Iberian Peninsula. Écija consolidated its status as border town during the 14th century. Écija was granted the title of city in 1402. It was not until 1410, with the conquest of
Antequera Antequera () is a city and municipality in the Comarca de Antequera, province of Málaga, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" (''el corazón de Andalucía'') because of its central loc ...
, that Écija stopped being the head of a borderland territory. During the 15th century, Écija was the third most important urban centre of the Kingdom of Seville after Seville and Jerez, progressively evening the distance with the latter. Estimations for the 15th century yield a population of about 18,000.


Modern era

During the transition from the late middle ages to the early modern period, Écija remained integrated, within the Crown of Castile, in the Kingdom of Seville. A significant community of "
new christians New Christian ( es, Cristiano Nuevo; pt, Cristão-Novo; ca, Cristià Nou; lad, Christiano Muevo) was a socio-religious designation and legal distinction in the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire. The term was used from the 15th centur ...
" of Portuguese origin settled in Écija in the Early Modern period, acquiring a notable influence in the city. Olive oil production grew at the expense of the relative dominance of the traditional cereal crops starting by the 17th century. Strategically located in between Seville and Córdoba, Écija remained one of the most important Andalusian cities, economically thriving in the 17th and 18th centuries. It also stood out for its wool trade, with the ''lavaderos'' in control of Flemish merchants. Écija featured a relatively multicultural society, allowing for Peninsular and European denizens, and even from the Americas, to share a common space of interchange. The effects of the 1755 earthquake forced a deep urban renewal in Écija. The city had an urban population of 29,343 circa 1786–1787. Although Astigi was one of the largest and most complete Roman cities ever unearthed, the city council decided in 1998 to
bulldoze A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous trac ...
Écija's Roman ruins, including "a well-preserved Roman forum, bath house, gymnasium and temple as well as dozens of private homes and hundreds of mosaics and statues" and replace them with a 299-car parking lot.


Geography


Location

The urban nucleus of Écija lies on the left bank of the
Genil The Genil River is the main (left) tributary of the river Guadalquivir in Andalusia, Spain. The Roman ''Singilis'', its modern name derives from the Moorish rendering of the Roman name: ''Sinyil, Sannil'', and ''Sinnil''. Route The source of the ...
, over the river's fluvial terraces, built in the Roman era on a location apt for the control of the river and its meadows.


Climate

Écija is known in Spain as ''La sartén de Andalucía'' ("The Frying Pan of Andalusia"), supposedly because its high summer temperatures, although records show higher temperatures elsewhere in Spain (Murcia or Montoro, Córdoba). Écija suffered several floods in December 2010.


Population


Landmarks

* Convento de la Santísima Trinidad y Purísima Concepción * Real Monasterio de Santa Inés del Valle *Church of Santa María *St. James' Church *Holy Cross Church *St John the Baptist's Church *Peñaflor House *Benamejí Palace *Vallehermoso House


References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Turismo Écija
in English.
EcijaWeb
in Spanish.



list

Astigi (titular see) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ecija Municipalities of the Province of Seville