Grañón () is a village in the province and autonomous community of La Rioja, Spain. The municipality covers an area of and as of 2011 had a population of 307 people. It belongs to the comarca of Santo Domingo de la Calzada and the judicial district of Haro. Its residents, known as Grañoneros or Grañoneras, work primarily in agriculture and the cattle industry, with many young people being forced to leave the village to look for other forms of work in Logroño, the capital of La Rioja.
Geography The village is located at the furthest west point of La Rioja, within the region known as Rioja Alta, on the border with the Province of Burgos.The landscape ranges from wooded areas, to mountainous areas, to rolling hills. Water is scarce enough for its usage to be restricted during summers with hotter temperatures. Land in the municipality is primarily used for agriculture, with only 10–20% of the land being wooded. The ground is not irrigated, meaning that agriculture is almost entirely dedicated to cereals, although there are also large potato fields and (to a lesser extent) other irrigated crops such as peas and beans.
Flora The forested areas are located in two areas known as Monte Carrasquedo and Monte Alto. Monte Carrasquedo is to the south of the municipality. It is a relatively flat natural area, where common and Pyrenean oak trees dominate, although other species of tree such as kermes (carrasca) oak (the tree that gives its name to both the hill and chapel), maple, almond, and wild cherry are also present. In this area, there are also two different types of pine: Pinus sylvestris y Pinus radiata. The trees are surrounded by a wide range of bush species, such as hawthorn, heather, blackthorn, juniper, wild rose, blackberry, rockrose, and gorse. Other plant species that can be found in this area are: oregano, danewort, cardoon, mullein, goosefeet, and wild marjoram.
Monte Alto occupies a smaller area and is populated almost completely with beech and Pyrenean oak trees, as well as a small repopulation of Pinus sylvestris. Among the beech trees, other plants such as anemone, violets, holly, hawthorn and heather also grow, as well as willow, almond, maple and wild cherry trees. In the Pyrenean oak area, juniper, heather, hawthorn and ferns grow, as well as both white and common broom.
Fauna Birds such as the coal tit, crested tit, chaffinch, European serin and the woodpecker are common. Jays live among the conifers, and the robin and the common nightingale live in the clearings. In this diverse landscape birds of prey such as goshawks and sparrow hawks can be found, while black kites are often seen in open spaces. Among mammals, squirrels are abundant due to the large amount of tree cover, with field mice, wild boar, foxes and badgers also seen. Reptiles include green lizards and common wall lizards. Vipers are also occasionally seen, depending on the time of year.
History Documents from the time period suggest that the existence of Grañón dates back to the 9th century, when the king of León, Alfonso III, ordered a castle to be constructed on top of a hill located next to the village, which was known as Mirabel or Mirabelia. According to the Chronica Naierensis, there was a castle in Grañón by the year 885. Other studies suggest it was built in the year 889. This fortress, as well as others in the vicinity, would have been used to defend attacks from Muslims in Christian territory. Under the protection of Grañón's castle, small hamlets and neighbourhoods began to develop, which gradually saw a population being established in the area. Various hospitals were known to be present in the town. One of these was the Hospital of Carrasquedo, where a chapel of the same name stands today.
Grañón was involved in the territorial battles between Sancho VI of Navarre and Alfonso VIII of Castile in the second half of the 11th century. In 1176, the Navarrese and the Castilians were reunited under the arbitration of the English king, Henry II, to put an end to the war. The Navarrese king claimed Mirabel Castle belonged to him through hereditary right, but Grañón's castle remained with the Castilians. In 1187, Alfonso VIII granted a fuero (a local jurisdiction) to the village, with which the urban planning of the new settlement was determined.
When Domingo de la Calzada re-routed the Camino de Santiago in medieval times from the old Roman road, directing it towards Burgos and causing it to pass through Grañón and Redecilla del Camino, the town was revitalised.
Grañón used to be surrounded by walls, although no trace of these remains today. As the new village centre became established, the castle's importance to the village reduced as it evolved, with its populating growing. The fertile soils of Grañón have seen many disputes over the years. The most famous of these is the Leyenda de los Valientes (Legend of the Brave), where the towns of Grañón and Santo Domingo de la Calzada fought over the ownership of a 1000 ha parcel of land known as La Dehesa, which is located between the two towns.
Leyenda de los Valientes (Legend of the Brave) It is said that, many centuries ago, there was a dispute over an extensive dehesa located between the towns of Grañón and Santo Domingo. The inhabitants of Grañón observed with disgust at how the dehesa that they believed belonged to them was being used by their neighbours in Santo Domingo. The people of Santo Domingo argued that those lands belonged to them by right. The two sides could not come to an agreement and residents of both towns were constantly arguing and fighting. Eventually, an armed conflict broke out between the residents of the two towns. Representatives from both towns met up and decided that each town would choose one person to fight – unarmed – for the disputed lands. The winner would take the dehesa for their town.
While Santo Domingo's chosen representative was a skilled fighter fed on a diet of select foods, Martín García, Grañón's representative, was a simple farmer and fed himself on a diet of caparrones (red kidney beans).
The big day arrived. The Santo Domingo fighter had been covered in oil to stop the Grañonero from getting hold of him. To get around this issue, Martín García inserted a finger into his opponent's anus, which enabled him to pick him up and launch him far. With this, Martín García won La Dehesa for Grañón.
In August, a celebratory pilgrimage takes place to the Cruz de los Valientes (Cross of the Brave), which is located between the two towns, in the same location where this battle supposedly took place. There, the dispute is commemorated alongside residents of Santo Domingo. Flowers are left in the name of Martín García and caparrones are eaten.
In 1995, the Grañonero singer Juancho Ruiz el Charro wrote the song La cruz de los valientes (The cross of the brave) which recalls the legend of Martín García. It was performed at the cross in August 2001.
Art
Urbanism and civil architecture The medieval layout of Grañón was orientated around the San Juan monastery (now the parish church), which the village grew around. It is made up of four main longitudinal streets: Calle La Parrilla, Calle Santiago, Calle Mayor and Calle El Caño, with other streets cutting through these perpendicularly. Traditional civil architecture can be found in the oldest streets: Calle Santiago and Calle Mayor.
Most houses are two storeys tall, with both ashlar and rubble masonry on the lower floor, and wood and brick on the upper floor. Many of the buildings’ façades house old coats of arms, which represent the families that the homes belonged to. The oldest houses date from the 16th and 17th centuries, but the originals have not been preserved due to restoration work. In Calle El Caño, there is a two-storey 18th-century house, with both floors made from ashlar and rubble masonry, lintelled openings and a balcony with iron fittings.
Grañón's oldest square is Plaza de la Iglesia, which was built in the 17th century. The original San Juan monastery was located here. At the beginning of the 20th century two new squares were opened, Plaza del Hórreo and Plaza de Ávila.
Other civil structures include the sinks and fountains, which are still used in the daily lives of locals today.
In Grañón two lavoirs can be found in the town. These are simple structures that were used by women for washing clothes well into the 20th century. According to an unpublished study carried out by María Amor García Antolín, the oldest lavoir dates back to the 18th century and is situated at the end of Calle Las Cercas on the outskirts of town. The structure is made up of a rectangular wash basin, built into the floor and protected by a recently remodelled structure, open on two sides and covered by a roof with a wooden interior. The other lavoir is found in the middle of Calle Las Cercas, next to the fronton (Basque pelota court). This structure is made up of a fountain with four spouts built between 1862 and 1864, a circular drinking trough that dates back to 1885 and, attached to this, a sink with a large rectangular concrete basin that receives water from the fountain.
The fountain in Plaza de Ávila is the second oldest in the village. It was built in 1926 and is located in the centre of the square. It consists of a main body with a single spout, now waterless, situated on top of a tank in the form of a shell. A basin is connected to it that used to serve as a drinking trough for animals, although nowadays it is no longer used for this purpose. Today its main purpose is decoration for the garden in which it is located. At the end of the 20th century a new stone fountain was constructed in Plaza del Hórreo, placed in a corner of the town hall's exterior, as an homage to pilgrims.
Religious architecture Grañón has an important historical and artistic heritage associated with the growth that the town experienced during the Middle and Modern Ages, and with its close relationship to the Camino de Santiago. Various monasteries have been recorded that have disappeared over time, merging into the San Juan monastery around which the current town was founded. There was also a large number of chapels that no longer stand today. Today, historical interest is concentrated in the church of San Juan Bautista (where a small museum and sacristy can be found), the chapel of Nuestra Señora de Carrasquedo (Our Lady of Carrasquedo) and the Ermita de los Judíos (Chapel of the Jews).
Parish Church of San Juan Bautista
The church is located in the centre of the town, in Plaza del Hórreo. It is made up of a nave with three bays, a chancel and a three-sided octagonal apse. At the end of the apse is the sacristy, which extends to the south. The tower is formed of two bodies of ashlar. There are three portals: a semicircular arch at the foot of the apse, another made up of six pointed archivolts and a third one that is blocked up. Construction dates back to the 15th and 16th centuries, although the new sacristy and the tower are more recent. Various stonemasons took part in its construction, although only three of them are known by name: Grand Master Fernando (director of works in 1537), Juan de Huequel and Juan de Elgorriaga (who worked on the church until 1573).