Campoo
Encyclopedia
Campoo is a comarca
Comarca
A comarca is a traditional region or local administrative division found in parts of Spain, Portugal, Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil. The term is derived from the term marca, meaning a "march, mark", plus the prefix co- meaning "together, jointly".The comarca is known in Aragonese as redolada and...

 of Cantabria
Cantabria
Cantabria is a Spanish historical region and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Autonomous Community , on the south by Castile and León , on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea.Cantabria...

 (Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

) located in the High Ebro
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....

, with a surface little bigger than 1,000 km², and including the municipalities of Hermandad de Campoo de Suso
Hermandad de Campoo de Suso
Hermandad de Campoo de Suso is a municipality located in the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. The municipality's seat is in Espinilla.The Ebro River rises in this municipality, in the town of Fontibre.-Towns:*Abiada*Argüeso*Barrio*Camino...

, Campoo de Enmedio
Campoo de Enmedio
Campoo de Enmedio is a municipality located in the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. According to the 2007 census, the city has a population of 3.996 inhabitants. Its capital is Matamorosa.-External links:* - Cantabria 102 Municipios...

, Campoo de Yuso
Campoo de Yuso
Campoo de Yuso is a municipality located in the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. According to the 2007 census, the city has a population of 759 inhabitants. Its capital is La Costana.-External links:* - Cantabria 102 Municipios...

, Valdeolea
Valdeolea
Valdeolea is a municipality in Cantabria, northern Spain. It is located in a hill region crossed by the Camesa river and its numerous affluents....

, Valdeprado del Río, Valderredible, Reinosa
Reinosa
Reinosa is a municipality in Cantabria, Spain. , it has 10,307 inhabitants.-External links:* * - Cantabria 102 Municipios...

, Las Rozas de Valdearroyo, Santiurde de Reinosa, Pesquera, and San Miguel de Aguayo
San Miguel de Aguayo
San Miguel de Aguayo can refer to:*San Miguel de Aguayo, Texas, also known as Mission San Jose*San Miguel de Aguayo, Cantabria, Spain*Marquis de San Miguel de Aguayo, Spanish nobility...

. Their inhabitants are called Campurrians (Campurrianos, in Spanish).
Its highest elevation is the Cuchillón peak (2,225 m above sea level), and the lowest is Pesquera (560 m), with the capital, Reinosa at 850 m.

Originally, as it is gathered in the Book of Merindad
Merindad
Merindad is a Mediaeval Spanish administrative term that refers to a country subdivision smaller than a province but larger than a municipality. It was roughly approximate to the English count or bailiff...

es of Castile (from circa 1352), the Merindad of Aguilar de Campoo comprised municipalities of the south of present Cantabria
Cantabria
Cantabria is a Spanish historical region and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Autonomous Community , on the south by Castile and León , on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea.Cantabria...

, as well as of northern Province of Palencia and Burgos, with its capital being the Palentine
Palencia
Palencia is a city south of Tierra de Campos, in north-northwest Spain, the capital of the province of Palencia in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon...

 Aguilar de Campoo
Aguilar de Campoo
Aguilar de Campoo is a town in the province of Palencia, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is close to the River Pisuerga.-History:In 1255 Alfonso X the Wise declared it Villa Realenga...

, ancient capital also of the vast Marquesse of Aguilar de Campoo. Later the capital was moved to Reinosa
Reinosa
Reinosa is a municipality in Cantabria, Spain. , it has 10,307 inhabitants.-External links:* * - Cantabria 102 Municipios...

, which still has this status. The "Palentine Campoo" was left, after the provincial division, with Aguilar as the most important township, and included nowadays into the large comarca of Palentine Mountains.

Geography

Campoo is placed in a transition zone between the Eurosiberian and the Mediterranean regions of the Iberian Peninsula (see Forests of the Iberian Peninsula
Forests of the Iberian Peninsula
The woodlands of the Iberian Peninsula are distinct ecosystems on the Iberian Peninsula, spanning mainly Spain and Portugal. Although the various regions are each characterized by distinct vegetation, there are some similarities across the peninsula....

). Its climate is generally cold and humid, influenced by the Continental
Continental climate
Continental climate is a climate characterized by important annual variation in temperature due to the lack of significant bodies of water nearby...

 (as it is open to the Meseta) and Oceanic climate
Oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...

s, the last one smoothed by the Ísar ranges and the Cantabrian Mountains
Cantabrian Mountains
The Cantabrian Mountains or Cantabrian Range are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain.They extend for more than approximately 180 miles across northern Spain, from the western limit of the Pyrenees to the edges of the Galician Massif close to Galicia, along the coast of the...

. This climate combination can be observed in very cold winters and gentle summers, with no extreme temperatures. With Reinosa in the middle, we can find a more Mediterranean
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...

 zone, comprising Valderredible and Valdeolea, and to the North, near the end of the Besaya River, the climate becomes clearly Oceanic.

In the Híjar mountains is the source of the river of the same name, whose discharge is the main water contribution to the Ebro
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....

 river, which is born in the locality of Fontibre. This river is dammed near Reinosa, to make one of the largest reservoirs of the hydrographic basin of the Ebro , acting as main regulator of the Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...

 and Riojan irrigated lands. In these same mountain ranges, risen from tectonic movements during the time from the end of the Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 to the Oligocene
Oligocene
The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...

 (alpinotype orogeny
Orogeny
Orogeny refers to forces and events leading to a severe structural deformation of the Earth's crust due to the engagement of tectonic plates. Response to such engagement results in the formation of long tracts of highly deformed rock called orogens or orogenic belts...

), are the highest peaks of the comarca, the Cuchillón (2,225 m) and the Tres Mares (Three Seas; 2,180 m), so called because from its skirts rivers flow to all three Spanish river basins.

The Tres Mares is the point where the mountain ranges of Ísar and Híjar start, forming at its base a glacial valley open to the whole comarca. From its summits can be seen the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...

 to the north, the near Picos de Europa
Picos de Europa
The Picos de Europa is a range of mountains 20 km inland from the northern coast of Spain, located in the Autonomous Communities of Asturias, Cantabria and Castile and León, forming part of the Cantabrian Mountains...

 to the northwest, the Cantabrian
Cantabrian Mountains
The Cantabrian Mountains or Cantabrian Range are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain.They extend for more than approximately 180 miles across northern Spain, from the western limit of the Pyrenees to the edges of the Galician Massif close to Galicia, along the coast of the...

 and Palentine Mountains to the southwest, the Meseta Central to the south, and the Pas
Pas River
The Pas River is located in the region of Cantabria in the northern part of Spain. The river flows through the autonomous community of Cantabria and empties into the Cantabric Sea.-See also :* List of rivers of Spain...

 valleys with the Encartaciones mountains to the east.

Flora and fauna

In the northern slope of the mountains, beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...

 and oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

 groves of the Saja-Besaya Natural Park spread out; an important nature reserve abundant with deers
Red Deer
The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...

, roe deer
Roe Deer
The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...

s and golden eagle
Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...

s. The presence of Iberian wolves is not very rare, and brown bear
Brown Bear
The brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...

s have been sighted, thus considering this zone as an important nexus of communication between isolated populations of this plantigrade
Plantigrade
right|151px|thumb|Human skeleton, showing plantigrade habitIn terrestrial animals, plantigrade locomotion means walking with the podials and metatarsals flat on the ground. It is one of three forms of locomotion adopted by mammals...

. There are also important colonies of griffon vulture
Griffon Vulture
The Griffon Vulture is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae.The Griffon Vulture is long with a wingspan. In the nominate race the males weigh and females typically weigh , while in the Indian subspecies the vultures average...

s in Polientes and the Híjar ridges. Other interesting species of animals that populate the comarca are: eagle owls, martens
Pine Marten
The European Pine Marten , known most commonly as the pine marten in Anglophone Europe, and less commonly also known as Pineten, baum marten, or sweet marten, is an animal native to Northern Europe belonging to the mustelid family, which also includes mink, otter, badger, wolverine and weasel. It...

, badgers
Eurasian Badger
The European Badger is a species of badger of the genus Meles, native to almost all of Europe. It is classed as Least Concern for extinction by the IUCN, due to its wide distribution and large population....

, stoat
Stoat
The stoat , also known as the ermine or short-tailed weasel, is a species of Mustelid native to Eurasia and North America, distinguished from the least weasel by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip...

s and desmans
Pyrenean Desman
The Pyrenean Desman is a small semi-aquatic mammal that lives in the Pyrenees to the Iberian peninsula. The Pyrenean Desman is in the monotypic genus Galemys. The Pyrenean Desman lives in mountain streams....

. In addition, the Ebro swamps house a remarkable aquatic avifauna.
Among its flora, as well as the mentioned oak and beech groves, there are very important populations of hollies
European Holly
Ilex aquifolium, holly, or european holly, is a species of holly native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia.- Overview :...

 and birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...

s, and also excellent specimens of taxus
Taxus
Taxus is a genus of yews, small coniferous trees or shrubs in the yew family Taxaceae. They are relatively slow-growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of 1-40 m, with trunk diameters of up to 4 m...

, all of which are protected by the Spanish law.

People

The inhabitants of Campoo are called Campurrians (Campurrianos in Spanish) and their language is Spanish, influenced by an Astur-Leonese dialect.

The traditional costume is characteristic for its "albarcas", footwear similar to Asturian clogs
Clog (shoe)
A clog is a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood.The Oxford English Dictionary defines a clog as a "thick piece of wood", and later as a "wooden soled overshoe" and a "shoe with a thick wooden sole"....

, which are exquisitely carved in birch wood (nowadays they are industrially made in beech). Another typical Campurrian accessory is the "palo pinto", a rod made of hazelnut tree wood and engraved by fire, and which is used to help in walking up the mountains and to beat the livestock.

The Campurrian economy has traditionally been connected to cattle, the Campurrians having also good reputation as carters and masons. The Campurrian carters were in charge of making the exchange of merchandising between the Castilian Mesa and the capital of the province (until the administrative reorganization of 1982, Santander was part of Old Castile, and also its capital), constantly redoing the route of the Foramontanos that repopulated Castile.

Culture

The day of Campoo is celebrated the last Sunday of September, as part of Saint Matthew festivities. The main act of the day is a cart parade that show scenes of the traditional everyday life, pulled by oxen and Tudanca cows. Other important festivities are the ones of Los Campanos in Abiada, celebrated the first Sunday of September to commemorate the end of summer by bringing the cows down to the valley from the summer passes, full of regalia; and Las Nieves on August 15 in Naveda.

In the comarca there are plentiful buildings of "highlander" romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

, among which the Cervatos's and San Martín de Eliness collegiate church
Collegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...

s, the Santa María la Mayor church of Villacantid stand out; other remarkable churches are those of Bolmir y Retortillo, San Andrés and San Martín de Valdelomar.

In the Campurrian civil architecture the abundant noble houses stand out, with carved ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...

s and sunny spots (Mazandrero, Naveda, Celada, Pesquera, etc.) In military architecture one piece must be remarked, the Argüeso castle, built on the 12th century and where Don Íñigo López de Mendoza, Marquis of Santillana, lived and from where he managed the Lordship of Campoo and his marquessate of Argüeso in the 15th century. Other interesting buildings are the tower of the Bustamantes in the Costana, and also the ones of Ruerrero, of San Martín de Hoyos, of Ríos de Proaño, and the tower of the Gómez-Bárcenas in San Miguel de Aguayo.

The city of Julióbriga
Juliobriga
Juliobriga |Retortillo]] and its Villafría district, in the municipality of Campoo de Enmedio.Its founding, during the Cantabrian Wars , made it a powerful symbol of Roman domination of the tribes of the Cantabri...

 ruins, 4 km away from Reinosa, in Retortillo, deserve a special mention. The city was founded by the IV Roman Legion in the 1st century BC upon an old Cantabrian castro. Also, an important battle took place in this area: the Battle of Aracillum (Aradillos), and important chapter in the romanization of Cantabria, which took over 200 years, one of the longest of the whole history of the Roman Empire.
The comarca of Campoo was again important in another war episode two thousand years later, during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

, when the Navarre Brigades broke the resistance of the Popular Front
Popular Front (Spain)
The Popular Front in Spain's Second Republic was an electoral coalition and pact signed in January 1936 by various left-wing political organisations, instigated by Manuel Azaña for the purpose of contesting that year's election....

 in the Híjar ridges, provoking the republican loss of Santander.

Present time

Halfway during the 1970s, the comarca underwent a depopulation and demographic ageing process, specially due to the decline of the national company "La Naval" (Forges and Steels of Reinosa), which maintained a previously thriving industry, with credited international prestige in naval and weaponry construction. Notwithstanding, after a traumatic industrial conversion and an important development in tourism, this Cantabrian comarca faces the rade-off between keeping the highly polluting siderurgy or basing its economy on tourism.

Nowadays, its main economic resources are the aforementioned tourism and siderurgy industry, as well as the alimentary livestock (specially cattle, but also horses). The growing development of the tourism infrastructure, in spite of being one of the main economic engines of Campoo, is starting to make pressure in the ecologic balance of the zone. This fact has caused the proliferation of ecologist associations involved in the achievement of sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...

, as the only way to preserve these valleys.

General

  • Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Espasa.
  • Menéndez-Pidal, Ramón. Historia de España. Ramón Menéndez Pidal / Madrid : Espasa-Calpe, 1989
  • Pérez de Urbel, Justo. La España del siglo X : castellanos. y leoneses, navarros y gallegos, musulmanes y judíos, forjadores de historia / Madrid, Alonso, 1983
  • Sánchez-Albornoz, Claudio
    Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz y Menduiña
    Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz y Menduiña was an eminent Spanish medieval historian, statesman, and a leader of the Spanish Republican government in Exile during the rule of Francisco Franco.- Education and Early Career :...

    . España : Un enigma histórico / Barcelona, Edhasa, D. L. 2001

Monographic

  • El Conde Fernán González. Fray Justo Pérez de Urbel.
  • Fueros de Brañosera dados por el conde Muñio Nuñez en 15 de octubre del año de 824. MyR. 16-18.
  • Iglesias, J. M. Regio Cantabrorum. / Santander, Caja Cantabria. Oct.1999
  • Muñíz, Juan A. Cántabros. La génesis de un pueblo. / Santander, Caja Cantabria.

External links

The House of Culture "Sánchez Díaz" of Reinosa has been publishing in paper the series "Notebooks of Campoo" from 1995; a rigorous and well documented work about the most diverse aspects of Campoo, and written by experts in different matters. Recently this notebooks have been digitalized and uploaded to the Internet. Some of them can be read in the following links:
Notebooks of Campoo The destruction of the archives Mountains of Campoo Medieval towers The Foramontans La Naval of Reinosa

Other

Government of Cantabria Palencia Tourism Cantabria 102 municipalities SideNor (Siderurgy of the North) CanTur(Cantabrian Tourism)
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK