Sisterna is one of eleven
parishes
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
in the
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
Ibias
Ibias is a municipality in the autonomous community of Asturias, Spain. As of 2023, its population was 1,121. It shares its name with the river Ibias, which flows through the municipality. Its capital and largest parish is San Antolín; it is ...
, within the province 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 ...
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 ...
, in northern
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 ...
. In 2021 it had 19 inhabitants, down from 48 in 2000.
Villages and hamlets
* Bao Population 2011 16
* Sisterna Population 2011 16
Economy
Traditionally, the zone has relied on woodworking, utilizing
lathes
A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, threading and turning, with tools that are applied to the ...
. During winter, men would exert this activity to later sell their goods in markets throughout Spain. The women were left in charge of the villages when the man were busy with trade.
This particular economic tradition might be responsible for Sisterna's geographic organization. Usually Asturian villages are made up with houses spread far apart from each other, with land for animals and orchards, besides a
hórreo
An ''hórreo'' is a typical granary from the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula (Asturias, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, where it might be called a Galician granary, and Northern Portugal), built in wood or stone, raised from the ground (to keep ro ...
(granary). In Sisterna, however, the houses are all put together forming narrow streets (including the church), something which might be a consequence from the fact that the inhabitants lived not so much from agriculture and cattle-raising than from industry and commerce.
Nowadays in Sisterna there is a rural hub for the artisans, with lodging, a store and an ethnographical museum dedicated to the woodworkers, called "tixileiros" in Asturian.
References
Parishes in Ibias
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