Panel 14 - Raccopal a peasant village
This panel contains detailed information on the Andalusian dwelling, the domestic space in which the life of this new society took place.
1. Feudalism
In 1085, Zorita and its territory came under Christian control when the surrender of the Taifa of Toledo to the Kingdom of Castile was negotiated. A full century of changes ushered in a new social model – feudalism. To replace the local Muslim population, which was forced to emigrate, peasants from the Christian kingdoms established new villages.
2. The Village
One such village was founded in 1156 on the olive grove of Raccopal – the former Visigothic Reccopolis and Arabic Raqaubal – by virtue of a concession granted by King Alfonso VIII to Mozarabic peasants from Aragon. Atop the ruins of the Visigothic church, a Romanesque temple with its cemetery was erected, while several dwellings were built upon part of the palace foundations to house the new peasant community.
3. The Shrine
In the 14th century, the village had been abandoned, and its temple, which lay in ruins, was rebuilt, but this time serving as a hermitage under the patronage of Our Lady of the Olives. The people of the area celebrated pilgrimages here until well into the 16th century.
4. The Irrigation Channels
The consolidation of feudal society brought about transformations to the landscape, a consequence of a new productive organization of the territory aimed at favoring the interests of the new landowners: the nobility and high clergy. Large-scale grazing and extensive agricultural crops were introduced, and water mills emerged as another instrument to control and determine agricultural activity.
In the territory of Zorita, the construction of these mills, which persisted throughout the Middle Ages, was possibly achieved by taking advantage of the Andalusian irrigation systems.
5. The Mills
The hydraulic mills present in the territory of Zorita harnessed the force of water, which was channeled through an irrigation ditch towards the mouth of a reservoir, the cubo, approximately seven meters high. The motive power of the falling water set the mill machinery in motion, turning the millstones to grind the grain.
The quarries for carving and extracting the wheels destined for the mills were usually located in their vicinity, as is the case with the one situated in the area of Los Palacios.
6. The Medieval Route
Between Reccopolis and Zorita, some sections of the old medieval road that connected both towns have been located, evidenced by the traces of wagon wheel ruts that once ran along it. The fact that it communicates with one of the main accesses to the city of Reccopolis suggests that this road was already in use since Visigothic times and formed part of a communication route that followed the left bank of the Tagus River.
