On the persistence of medieval urban spatial layout: Selected towns on the Pilgrims’ Way to Santiago de Compostela in the Iberian Peninsula

Abstrakt

The aim of this article was to analyse selected medieval urban structures in the pilgrimage centres on the route to Santiago de Compostela, and then to examine the processes of their transformation and the phenomenon of spatial continuity. The centres analysed here are examples of early regular street layouts established in a planned manner. Their characterisation was preceded by a brief description of the historical and spatial conditions allowing the phenomena in question to be placed in an appropriate wider context. The study paid particular attention to open spaces, especially squares, as important areas of the urban structure that still exist today performing a variety of important functions for the local community. A literature search was carried out on the subject. Historical, iconographic and cartographic sources were also used. No less important role was played by direct observation and analysis of the towns.

The centres analysed have not undergone major spatial transformations since the Middle Ages. In their layout we can distinguish the main pilgrimage-trade route, around which residential and service buildings were erected. In the described settlements, as they developed, a special market space evolved with a regular form. It was usually located by the church. The community of the Franks played a key role in shaping the centres described in the article.