Spain Coins 5 Pesetas 1996 La Rioja
Commemorative issue: La Rioja, a province and autonomous community of northern Spain.
Obverse: Porch of Revellín and tower of the church of Santa María de Palacio of Logroño.
Lettering: ESPAÑA 1996.
Reverse: The Whirling Stilt Dancer of Anguiano, grapes, crowned M.
Lettering: 5 PTAS M LA RIOJA.
Edge: Smooth.
Year:
1996.
Value:
5 Pesetas.
Metal:
Aluminium-bronze.
Weight:
3 g.
Diameter:
17.5 mm.
Thickness:
1.8 mm.
Shape:
Round.
Demonetized:
02-28-2002.
La Rioja (Spain)
La Rioja is an autonomous community and a province in Spain, located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and Nájera. It has an estimated population of 322,415 inhabitants (INE 2010).
It covers part of the Ebro valley towards its north and the Iberian Range in the south. The community is a single province, so there is no County Council, and it is organized into 174 municipalities. It borders the Basque Country (province of Álava) to the north, Navarre to the northeast, Aragón to the southeast (province of Zaragoza), and Castilla y León to the west and south (provinces of Burgos and Soria).
The area was once occupied by pre-Roman Berones, Pellendones and Basques. After partial recapture from the Muslims in the early tenth century, the region became part of the Kingdom of Pamplona, later being incorporated into Castile after a century and a half of disputes. From the eighteenth century the Rioja region remained divided between the provinces of Burgos and Soria, until in 1833 the province of Logroño was created, changing the name of the province to La Rioja in 1980 as a prelude to its constitution under a single provincial autonomous community in 1982. The name "Rioja" (from Río Oja) is first attested in 1099.
The region is well known for its wines under the brand
Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja.
Logroño
Logroño is a city in northern Spain, on the Ebro River. It is the capital of the province of La Rioja.
The population of the city in 2008 was 153,736 while the metropolitan area included nearly 197,000 inhabitants. The city is a centre of the trade in Rioja wine, for which the area is noted, and produces wood, metal and textile products.
Logroño is located in the northern region of La Rioja, on the river Ebro, 384 metres (1,260 feet) above sea level. The Camino de Santiago passes through the city. The geographical coordinates of the city are: 42° 27′ N, 2° 29′ W.
The city lies 152 km (94 mi) from Bilbao, 172 km (107 mi) from Zaragoza, 336 km (209 mi) from Madrid and 468 km (291 mi) from Barcelona.
Logroño was an old settlement, first of the Romans, under the name of Vareia, a commercial port, and then of the Celts. From the 10th century, possession of Logroño was disputed between the kings of Navarre and those of Castile; the region was finally annexed to Castile. The name is a combination of le and Groin, mashed together as Logroño over time. Alfonso VI of Castile granted Logroño in 1095 a charter of rights that served as a model for other Spanish cities. In 1609 and 1610 Logroño was the main seat of the Basque witch trials, part of the Spanish Inquisition.
Famous people from Logroño include Manuel Bretón de los Herreros, Fausto Elhúyar, Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, Rafael Azcona, Ramón Castroviejo, Pedro J. Ramírez, Navarrete "El Mudo".
Logroño is the shopping and financial capital of La Rioja. Its economy is heavily reliant on wine. It is twinned with Dunfermline, Darmstadt, Libourne, Dax, Rancagua, Ciudad de La Rioja, Brescia, Hagunia. The new airport Logroño-Agoncillo connects the city with Madrid and Barcelona.
Church of Santa María de Palacio (Logroño)
The
Church of Santa María de Palacio (Spanish:
Iglesia de Santa María de Palacio) is a church located in Logroño, Spain. It was declared
Bien de Interés Cultural in 1943.
Anguiano
Anguiano (Spanish:
Anguiano), is a small town in the province of La Rioja, Spain. It is located near Nájera, and has a population of about 546 people (2006).
Anguiano is famous for its caparrones, red beans that are usually eaten in a stew with chorizo, and a yearly festival is held honoring these beans. The town is known as well as for its traditional dance on stilts.
Danza de los Zancos – The Whirling Stilt Dancers of Anguiano
Walking on stilts is a daunting task for most people, but for the skilled “danzatores” of Anguiano, Spain, it’s a regular walk in the park. During the annual Danza de los Zancos celebration they take to the streets on wooden stilts measuring some 50 centimeters, and spin rapidly down the town’s steepest alleyways. They risk breaking their necks or smashing their heads against the cobbled pavement to honor La Magdalena (Mary Magdalene).
Every year, on July 22, the town of Anguino hosts one of the oldest, most fascinating fiestas in Spain, the Danza de los Zancos (Stilt Dance). In honor of Mary Magdalene, one of the most popular saints in this part of the country, eight brave and morally upright boys from the oldest families in Anguiano put on brightly colored vests, white shirts and damask yellow skirts, and dance on 50-cm-high wooden stilts. And I don’t mean just bouncing from one foot to another, but whirling at high speeds on steep and narrow alleys with nothing but a human mattress of spectators to catch them if they lose their balance. Did I mention they clap their castanets at the same time?
Spinning at high speed on a steep cobbled street without losing your balance seems hard to do on your own two feet, but the dancers of Anguino manage to do it on stilts. They try to stare ahead in a fixed gaze, but it’s their traditional long skirts that really help them maintain their equilibrium in this amazing whirling dervish dance. Accidents are rare, and the performers believe the Magdalena protects them during their dangerous routine. But if she won’t, it’s up to the crowd lining the scene of their performance to catch them.
The Danza de los Zancos can be traced back to the 17th century, when the villagers in the region of Alta Oja used stilts to navigate through marshes. The dancers are such a big part of local culture that one of the alleys they spin on has been named after them – Cuesta de los Danzatores (Hill of Dancers).
