Alájar

Alájar is a town and municipality located in the province of Huelva, Spain. According to the 2005 census, the city has a population of 771 inhabitants. The song "Señorita" of the Bollywood movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was shot in this town.

Alájar
Flag
Seal
Alájar
Location in Spain
Alájar
Alájar (Spain)
Coordinates: 37°52′N 6°39′W
Country Spain
Autonomous community Andalusia
ProvinceHuelva
MunicipalityAlajar
Government
 • MayorSalvador Navarro Sánchez
Area
 • Total41 km2 (16 sq mi)
 • Land41 km2 (16 sq mi)
 • Water0.00 km2 (0.00 sq mi)
Population
 (2018)[1]
 • Total763
 • Density19/km2 (48/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)

Alájar had 8 villages in the 19th century. Currently, only 4 villages are inhabited: El Calabacino, El Collado, El Cabezuelo and Los Madroñeros.[2]

Demographics
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1999794—    
2000776−2.3%
2001789+1.7%
2002781−1.0%
2003769−1.5%
2004750−2.5%
2005771+2.8%
Source: INE (Spain)

Tourism

Benito Arias Montano retired to La Peña de Arias Montano after his work on the Polyglot Bible and participation in the Council of Trent. This community receives many visitors each year. Here the bust of the great humanist and theologian of the sixteenth century, engraved by Eugenio Hermoso on the occasion of his centenary in 1927, can be found.

In 2011 Bollywood drew attention to this small town with the film Sólo se vive una vez (You Only Live Once, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) from director Zoya Akhtar,[3] the filming of the song "Señorita" from the film took place over three nights, which also featured locals dressed in costumes.[4]

Main sights
  • Reina de los Ángeles Hermitage
  • San Marcos Church
  • St. Bartholomew Hermitage
  • Portada almohadillada
  • Espadaña y garitas
  • "Peña de Arias Montano" Natural Monument

"Peña de Arias Montano" Natural Monument

Monumento Natural Peña de Arias Montano or Peña de Alájar is a natural monument of great historical and landscape value. The famous humanist Benito Arias Montano lived here, and the area was renamed after him so that nowadays it goes by the name of "Peña de Arias Montano." It offers incredible views of Alájar and everything south of the province of Huelva. Below is a network of caves among which is Palacio Osucro, a cave which currently remains closed.

Reina de los Ángeles Hermitage

The Ermita de la Reina de los Ángeles (Reina de los Ángeles Hermitage) or Ermita de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Our lady of los Ángeles Hermitage) is located within la Peña de Alájar. This sixteenth-century chapel is a building consisting of heterogeneous aggregations to a small temple. It consists of a nave, priest and dressing room, in addition to a vestry, housing and enclosures. The nave, with strong deformations to the floor has two pointed transverse arches that spring from pillars.

Portada almohadillada

It is located in front of the Hermitage. It consists of two semi-columns and an arc in addition to the spill nose tongs and some bursts of buttress walls. It lacks historical reference, however it has very clear affiliations within Renaissance architecture.

Espadaña y garitas

Located at the edge of the plateau on which the Reina de los Ángeles Hermitage sits, in la Peña de Arias Montano is a picturesque steeple, accompanied by pilastered booth paths, circular and a penpal vault. The steeple has two levels: the bottom has a symmetrical composition with a base of six embedded semi-columns on each side framing a round arch, post-and-beam openings with square windows above and finally two massifs.

The columns on pedestals are independent and carry some terse chapiters. The upper floor is constituted by a parallelepipedal central bulk with a central oval window. Three bells and a picturesque bluff complete the work.

  • City Hall
  • A street in Alájar
  • Alájar seen from la Peña de Arias Montano
  • Bell gable at the Reina de los Ángeles chapel
  • The San Marcos Church around which the village of Alájar is clustered

References
  1. Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
  2. El Calabacino, una aldea de Alájar donde se practica el neorruralismo (in Spanish)
  3. "Bollywood acerca Alájar al público indio con Solo se vive una vez" (in Spanish). 14 August 2011. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  4. Patcy N (7 July 2011). "Zoya Akhtar on Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara". Rediff.
  • Alájar - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía
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