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The Balagî
of the 11th century
The importance
of the city grew considerably during the 11th century and would last until the time
of the county conquest, in 1105. The castle was converted into the palace of the
governor of the district, Yusuf al-Muzaffar. The existence of a flourishing aristocracy,
as well as a series of scholars, make the intellectual life of this Medina clear.
We know that the city had other mosques; the most important bore the name of a personality
from the local aristocracy, Avimoni, and later the church of Sant Salvador would
be built there.
The baths, still to be found, were a fundamental element in the social life of the
Andalusian city, and according to Latin documentation, there was more than one. There
were also corn exchanges, where the traders, the merchandise and the beasts of burden
could be lodged.
Demographic growth involved the building of new cemeteries situated close to the
important communication routes. There is documentation of one situated on the other
side of the river, in a zone near what is the present day Sant Domènec.
The definitive urban expansion was concentrated on the ravals or trading quarters
and the lower part of the town, around the present day Plaça de Sant Salvador.
This growth brought the construction of four great works:
- the expansion of
the walls that enclosed the city, to protect the new quarters,
- the canalisation
of the left bank of the river,
- the construction
of the El Cup irrigation channel, necessary for family consumption and civil buildings
like baths, mills...,
- the deviation and
covering of the ravine of El Torrent.
Among the changes
that came about in the city during the 11th century, the organisation of a quarter
dedicated to pottery is one of the most important. This area is situated on the north-western
extreme of the urban nucleus, with the corresponding workshops and kilns. We know
that production was varied and that at least 18 different kinds of pieces were made,
all destined for domestic use, and that as well as supplying the city, they also
reached the smallest places of the area of influence of Balaguer. The pieces were
made by hand or on a wheel and mainly have painted decoration based on manganese.
According to the documentation, the territory of Balaguer was strongly Islamised,
with the presence of many settlements ñfrom castles to almúnies, including
towers and small rural exploitationsñ, the majority of which functioned with an agricultural
and/or livestock economy and fulfilled, at the same time, strategic military functions.
The first reference to the district of the city of Balaguer appeared in 1024, but
it was not until the end of the 11th century when the limits were specifically delineated:
to the east, the districts of the castles of Camarasa, Cubells and Almenara; to the
south, the district of the city of Lleida; to the west, the river Noguerola (Noguera
Ribagorçana) and finally, to the north, the districts of the castles of Tartareu
and Santa Linya.
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