Eskibel () is a village 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 ...
,
Basque Country,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. It forms part of the of
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 ...
. It is situated southwest of the city in a small valley surrounded by the Mountains of Vitoria.
Always sparsely populated, in the early 19th century it had only 22 inhabitants, in 1960 it had 10, and as of 2023 it has only 2.
The village comprises a few small buildings and the ruins of the Church of San Lorenzo (
Saint Lawrence
Saint Lawrence or Laurence (; 31 December 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the Persecution of Christians, persecution of the Christians that the Roman Empire, Rom ...
). A medieval statue, known as the Virgin of Eskibel, was salvaged from the church ruins and can now be seen at the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Despite having the status of ''concejo'', the elections scheduled for 2013 and 2017 were not held due to a lack of candidates.
Eskibel was the site of fighting in the
Spanish War of Independence
The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...
in the early 19th century and later during the
Second Carlist War
The Second Carlist War, or the War of the Matiners ( Catalan for "early-risers," so-called from the harassing action that took place at the earliest hours of the morning), was a civil war in Spain. Some historians consider it a direct Catalan re ...
, when Vitoria was sieged by the Carlists.
The ''Castillo de Gomecha'' at Eskibel is the remains of an old fortified
watch tower
A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are b ...
.
References
External links
*
Concejos in Vitoria-Gasteiz
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