San Martín de Oscos ( Eonavian: Samartín d'Ozcos) is a municipality in the

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 ...

of the

Principality of Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

. It is bordered on the north by Illano, on the south by

Grandas de Salime Grandas de Salime is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is famous for its hydroelectric dam across the Navia River, forming the Embalse de Salime (''reservoir of Salime''). It is also famous for ...

, on the east by Pesoz and on the west by

Santa Eulalia de Oscos Santa Eulalia de Oscos ( Eonavian: Santalla d'Ozcos) is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is bordered on the north by Villanueva de Oscos, on the south and west by Lugo province of Galicia, a ...

and Villanueva de Oscos.

History

The first known human presence in the territory of San Martín goes back to the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period, as witnessed by tumulus remains found in Os Pedrousos (Teixera). There are also remains of ancient mine workings at Arruñada, Piorno, Covas del Resalao, and in the Sotuelo and Ahío valleys. There are remains of ancient fortified settlements at San Isidro and Pico de la Mina, near to Bousoño, both situated in elevated positions clearly motivated by defensive considerations. The defensive nature is underlined by ditches, walls and stones embedded in the surrounding ground to hinder approach. A gold diadem thought to originate from this culture was found in Valderreixe. The existence of mineral wealth also attracted outsiders. In Tabladas and on the banks of the river Santalla traces of Roman smelting works have been found, including stone crucibles and slag heaps. During the

medieval period 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 ...

San Martín, together with neighbouring Santa Eulalia and the rest of the

Castropol Castropol is a municipality in Asturias, Spain. It is also the name of a Parroquia (Spain), parish within the municipality and a town within the parish. The municipality of Castropol has a population of 3696 (Instituto Nacional de Estadística d ...

district, was granted to the church in

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

by King Alfonso VII in 1154. This dependency on the bishopric continued until 1584 at which time King Felipe II was liquidating church assets. With the authorisation of

Pope Benedict XIII Pope Benedict XIII (; ; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco (or Pierfrancesco) Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in ...

, the bishopric's lands were being sold to the local inhabitants as independent municipalities, to pay for the successive wars in which Spain had been involved. In that year an application, submitted in 1583, was approved and San Martín achieved the status of 'Villa' or town. In the early 19th century numerous 'mozos' or lads from the Oscos joined the troops of Castropol in the

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

from French occupation.

Parishes

The municipality contains four parishes:Asturian Society of Economic and Industrial Studies, regional geographic statistics web site, http://www.sadei.es/indexsub.asp?id=Nomenclator/Nomenclator.HTM, accessed 3/19/2013 * Illano (Eilao) - 12 inhabitants (2006) * Labiarón - 70 inhabitants (2006) * Oscos (parish) - 368 inhabitants (2006) * Pesoz (parish) - 16 inhabitants (2006)

References

External links

Guia del Occidente. San Martin de Oscos

Tourist authority for the Oscos-Eo districts
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Martin de Oscos Municipalities in Asturias *