page_title: Elorrio
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Elorrio / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The central plaza of Elorrio, Spain.
context_page_description: Elorrio is a town and a municipality located in the eastern part of the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country, in northern Spain. As of 2017, it has a population of 7,307 inhabitants. It covers an area of 37.20 square kilometers and it has a population density of 193.58 people per square kilometer. It holds the medieval title of Most Loyal and Noble Villa.
  Elorrio was founded in 1356 by the Infante Tello Alfonso of Castile, who was the 20th Lord of Biscay, near the elizate of Saint Agustín of Etxebarria. Historically, San Agustin Etxebarria was part of the medieval County of Durango, and Elorrio remains part of the comarca of Durangaldea. In 1630, Elorrio annexed Saint Agustín of Etxebarria, which today is a ward of Elorrio. Elorrio had municipal representation in the medieval Juntas Generales.
  The town has been affected by its main economic activity: the industrial sector. It is also renowned for its rich architectural heritage, being listed as a Conjunto histórico by the Ministry of Culture.
context_section_description: The Argiñeta tombs that today lie just outside the town of Elorrio are both pre-Christian and Christian (the earliest date of the latter is recorded as 893). In 1053, the San Agustín de Etxebarria monastery was founded, which in time was renovated and eventually became present-day church (an example of Gothic architecture). In 1356, Don Tello, Lord of Biscay, officially created Elorrio (through a foundational charter) on the land where the monastery stood, as a means of creating a town to defend his borders against invasion from neighboring Gipuzkoa. In 1468 the town was the site of a major battle between warring clan factions in the Basque Country (the Oñacinos and the Gamboinos). However, incidents of this type decreased, and between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries, the town's fortunes grew, gaining renown for its iron-forges, and especially the production of lances.
  As a result of this economic expansion, a number of important buildings were constructed (mostly during the sixteenth century) that are today considered monuments of significant historical and architectural importance. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Elorrio, although it remained a predominantly rural town, became a tourist destination, as people visited the locality to attend one of its two well-known spas. After the Spanish Civil War, Elorrio went through a period of industrialization, with a number of small, family firms and worker cooperative enterprises emerging. In 1964, the whole town was the first one in Biscay to be declared a Centre of Historical and Artistic Importance. Its population, which grew from 3,500 in 1950 to 8,000 in 1981, currently (2004 records) numbers just over 7,000 people.
caption: Elorrio's central plaza
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