Armentia is one of the villages associated with

Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...

. Its name comes from the Latin word ''armentum,'' which translated into English means "

intensive farming Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of arable farming, crop plants and of Animal husbandry, animals, with higher levels ...

". The village is well known for its 161 hectare park created in 1998. The northern boundary of the village is formed by the Ariznavarra neighborhood.

Village

Armentia was a Spanish village in Álava, Basque Country and is at present one quarter of Vitoria-Gasteiz as a result of the city's expansion.

History

Vitoria - Alto de Armentia - San Prudencio 01

The village of Armentia was the most important religious centre in

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

in the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and as it was the see of the

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, its church was the first cathedral in the Basque Country until the end of the 11th century, a time when the southern part of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

was dominated by

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

forces. Later, the bishop's see was moved to

Calahorra Calahorra (; ; ) is a municipality in the Spanish autonomous community and province of La Rioja. During Ancient Roman times, Calahorra was a municipium known as ''Calagurris Nassica Iulia''. Location The city is located on a hill at an altitude ...

. Now it is 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 archbi ...

. Armentia was a strategic point on the communications networks in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and late

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times and stood on the crossroads of two important routes: the

Way of Saint James The Camino de Santiago (, ; ), or the Way of St. James in English, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tr ...

towards Gometxa, and the Roman road, which, after passing by the Mariturri Spring, headed towards Zuazo, and from there to Lermanda,

Margarita A margarita is a cocktail consisting of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice. Some margarita recipes include simple syrup as well and are often served with salt on the rim of the glass. Margaritas can be served either shaken with ice (on the rock ...

and

Iruña Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood plain of ...

Basilica of San Prudencio

Armentia has one of the most important Romanesque churches dating from the 12th century in the province, which is the Basilica of San Prudencio de Armentia. References during the late

describe it as the most important spiritual centre in

. The current building is twelfth century Romanesque and has a Latin cross plan, a

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

and a semicircular

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

Population

Park

Armentia park consists of a large natural gall-oak wood, located between the city and the Mountains of Vitoria, the main mountain system and one of the most valuable natural spaces in the municipality of

. It is precisely its location that converts the forest of Armentia into a real biological corridor between forested areas, the green periurban areas and the urban ecosystem, and this constitutes the main value of Armentia park.

Flora and fauna

A major feature of the Armentia park is its extensive covering of natural woodland (104 ha), representing more than 70% of its surface area. The dominating species of the forest of Armentia is the gall oak. The park has grown over the last 25 years with the plantation of a wide variety of tree species, distributed over 40 ha of land formerly used for farming. The forest of Armentia contains a number of different environments. There are areas of thick vegetation in which, in addition to gall oaks, there are

maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

s, hawthorns,

blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Basq ...

s and blackberry bushes, followed by areas of more scattered woodland with large clearings in some places, in which heather, badassi and

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

grow. The Artetxo sitting area contains a number of outstanding examples of mature gall oaks with a curious ''candelabra-like'' shape, a consequence of pruning done over a number of years for firewood. On the ridges you can find

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

holly ''Ilex'' () or holly is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

and

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

and along the edges of the small streams that flow through the park, maple,

hazel Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...

and ash are very common. The different environments that exist in the park are home to a rich and varied fauna including

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

and even about 30 species of small birds such as goldfinches,

chaffinches The Eurasian chaffinch, common chaffinch, or simply the chaffinch (''Fringilla coelebs'') is a common and widespread small passerine bird in the finch family. The male is brightly coloured with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The femal ...

, robins and

great tit The great tit (''Parus major'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of No ...

s. The environmental value of Armentia park consists of the fact that it is an ecological corridor between the green urban areas and the Mountains of Vitoria.

Development

The fires and excessive exploitation of the last two

decade A decade (from , , ) is a period of 10 years. Decades may describe any 10-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement ...

s placed the forest of Armentia in a very precarious state of conservation. In 1974, the Provincial Council of Álava, the owner of this land, began work to improve the gall oak wood and thus initiated the creation of a botanical park in the deforested areas, including native species together with other, more exotic plants and trees. The maples, rowan trees, cypresses and many other species date from that period. In the mid-90s, the wood showed clear signs of degradation such as the accumulation of rubbish, remains of bonfires, and excessive number of pathways and tracks and numerous eroded and flooded areas. The disorderly influx of visitors and especially vehicles were the main threat for the conservation of this park. The natural gall oak wood contained a large number of small, bushy trees with badly formed bases, and there were few well-developed mature trees. After being included in the

Green Belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...

, the first work consisted of restructuring the network of paths, improving the main tracks and closing the smaller ones, and the creation of a network of pathways for pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders. The degraded areas were restored, such as rubbish dumps, eroded areas and riverbanks. Additionally, car parks were prepared at the main entrances to the park and two sitting areas were created. Work to maintain the wood has been and continues to be a key contributing factor to the healthy state of conservation that is apparent today in Armentia park.

Map and aerial views

File:Armentia - 18.png, Map of Armentia park File:Armentia - 19.png, Map of different routes in Armentia park

Gallery

File:Vitoria - Alto de Armentia - San Prudencio 02.jpg, Sculpture of San Prudencio File:Armentia - 16.JPG, Basilica of San Prudencio File:Armentia - 01.JPG, Basilica of San Prudencio File:Armentia - 02.JPG, Larra footpath in Armentia File:Armentia - 03.JPG, Fountain in Armentia File:Armentia - 04.JPG, Fountain in Armentia File:Armentia - 05.JPG, Markers for different ways in Armentia park File:Armentia - 06.JPG, Markers for different ways in Armentia park File:Armentia - 07.JPG, Armentia park File:Armentia - 08.JPG, Armentia park after having snowed a little bit. La Dehesa. File:Armentia - 21.JPG, Armentia park after having snowed a little bit File:Armentia - 09.JPG, Armentia park after having snowed a little bit File:Armentia - 10.JPG, Horse rider in Armentia park File:Armentia - 11.JPG, Armentia park File:Armentia - 12.JPG, Armentia park. Alto del Molino. File:Armentia - 14.JPG, Armentia park. Alto del Molino. File:Armentia - 15.JPG, Armentia park File:Vitoria - Armentia 03 ('Implosion', 2003, Daniel Castillejo Mejias).JPG, 'Implosion' sculpture in Armentia

References

External links

Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council - Green Belt
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Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council - Armentia park

Tourism in Vitoria-Gasteiz - The Green Belt
{{Authority control Populated places in Álava Geography of Vitoria-Gasteiz