Alcoletge () is a village in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

and

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Spain. It has a population of .

History

Alcoletge was first mentioned in documents from the year 1118, in an agreement between Ramón Berenguer III and Arnau Berenguer of Anglesola. This Count of Barcelona received the castle from Alcoletge de Ibn Hilal (Avifelel), the

Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almo ...

from Lleida. It is precisely the name of this document (al-Kolaia) from which the town received its name. It seems that there was a

Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

village in the area that was the foundation of the Muslim nucleus. The parish was documented in 1168 and in 1200 it formed part of Lleida. Part of the municipality belonged to the monastery of Junqueras of Barcelona until the end of the feudal system. During the Catalan Revolt the castle was destroyed and the sixteenth-century shrine which depended on the Junqueras convent, Barcelona, was sacked and in 1665 the location was listed as deserted. The

Spanish War of Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish ...

in 1707 caused a second disaster and a second depopulation. The city council of Lleida, which emerged from the

Nueva Planta decrees The Nueva Planta decrees (, , ) were a number of decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V of Spain, Philip V, the first House of Bourbon, Bourbon Monarchy of Spain, King of Spain, during and shortly after the end of the War of the Spani ...

in 1719, appointed a mayor from within the criminal jurisdiction of the location and municipal area of Alcoletge, and this served as the origin of the independent municipality.

Symbols

The coat of arms of Alcoletge is defined by the following blazon:

''Losanjado Shield: gold, an open saber castle within two 2 saber elms. For a bell, a mural crown of the people.''

It was approved on March 12, 1991.

Culture

The parish church is dedicated to St. Michael. It was built in the eighteenth century, in the neoclassical style, taking the new cathedral of Lleida as a model. It has three naves covered with a groin vault and an ornate façade. In 1936 a Baroque altarpiece from the Old Cathedral of Lleida was destroyed and is kept in this temple. There is no trace of the old building, which was located on the hill overlooking the village. Arabic pottery from the medieval period was found here. There is also no remnants of the Renaissance manor (Cal Mo) which was used by the Jonqueres nuns and which had a beautiful gallery with arches in the back.

Celebrations

Alcoletge celebrates its major festival in May. The second festival takes place in September.

Economy

The main economic activity is agriculture, with the cultivation of fruit trees, especially pear and apple being the most common. Agricultural cooperative are also present. In recent years, the proximity to the capital (Lleida) has determined the working life of the residents, while agriculture remains the backbone of the economy of the municipality. Cultivated land, some 1,100 ha, represents two-thirds of the municipality. All crops are irrigated, thanks to the Fontanet irrigation and other sources such as from the Segre River, and Canals, which carries water from the Urgell canal.

References

External links

Official page of the City Council

Government data pages
{{Authority control Municipalities in Segrià Populated places in Segrià