| Nanclares de la Oca/Langraiz Oka | |
| Settlement Type: | Concejo |
| Pushpin Map: | Spain Álava#Spain Basque Country#Spain |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Spain |
| Subdivision Type1: | Autonomous community |
| Subdivision Name1: | Basque Country |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Name2: | Álava |
| Subdivision Type3: | Comarca |
| Subdivision Name3: | Añana |
| Subdivision Type4: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name4: | Iruña de Oca/Iruña Oka |
| Elevation M: | 498 |
| Area Total Km2: | 17.09 |
| Population Total: | 2673 |
| Population As Of: | 2022 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Official language(s) |
| Blank Info Sec1: | Spanish, Basque |
| Timezone: | CET |
| Utc Offset: | +1 |
| Timezone Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 01230 |
| Area Code Type: | Dialing code |
| Leader Title1: | President of the concejo |
Nanclares de la Oca (pronounced as /es/) or Langraiz Oka (pronounced as /eu/) is a village and concejo in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, Spain. It is also the seat of the municipality of Iruña de Oca and the most populated settlement in the Cuadrilla de Añana comarca. The village is located in the western part of the Llanada Alavesa, roughly away from the capital of the Basque Country, Vitoria-Gasteiz.
It was an independent municipality (consisting of Nanclares de la Oca itself, Montevite and Ollávarre) until 1976, when it was merged with to form the current municipality of Iruña de Oca.[2]
The first term related to Nanclares De La Oca was found in a Celtiberian stela which referred to the towns as "Langrares". For this reason, experts think there were pre-Roman settlements in the area.
Roman ruins have also been found not just in Iruña-Veleia, an ancient city located near Nanclares, but also in some recent excavations made in Nanclares.[5] The arrival of the Romans changed the style of life and turned Iruña-Veleia and its surroundings into an important area.
There are data about several Templar settlements in The Middle Ages. The suffix "Oca" is thought to be related with the Templars, as they called the area where they lived "Tierra de la Oca", which means "The Land of Geese". Still, the origin is not certain.
The Village of Nanclares de la Oca is included in the Catalogue of Álava's Towns which is part of the Spanish; Castilian: [[Reja de San Millán]], written in 1025. The village is mentioned as Alfoces Langrares. In the Middle Ages, an Spanish; Castilian: [[alfoz (territory)|alfoz]] was the name given in the Iberian Peninsula to a territory which belonged to a villa and was divided in different councils; in this case the councils of [[Transponte]], [[Adanna]], [[Lermanda]], [[Margarita, Álava|Margarita]], [[Suvillana]], [[Quintaniella de Sursun]], [[Billodas]], Langrares, [[Los Huetos|Oto]], [[Mandoiana]] and [[Lopeggana]].
During the Spanish Independence War there were many English soldiers near the village, especially in the Battle of Vitoria. The soldiers belonged to the fourth and light military divisions, which were under the order of Wellington. Besides, there were some British cavalry troops commanded by Robert Hill, Grant and Ponsonby; and a Portuguese one led by D'urban. Their mission was to wait in Nanclares de la Oca until Hill's troops conquered the heights of La Puebla; so that they could cross the Zadorra river and attack directly the rival.
The Carlist Wars also took place in Nanclares. As a consequence, nowadays there are three castles (Almoreta, Vayagüen and El Encinal) in the surroundings.
In the second half of the century a spa, which was known as Bolen or Bolem, was built. It had a great success; moreover, it was catalogued as one of the bests in Europe. At the end of the 19th century, the spa fell in decline and had to be closed. Some years later, in 1914, La Mennais Brothers settled in the area, rebuilt and restored the spa, and turned the place into seminary, where future Brothers were indoctrinated. Nowadays, the building is a Secondary School called Spanish; Castilian: Colegio San José de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria.
In the 20th century, the town grew considerably not just in length, but also in terms of population in consequence of the various migratory movements inside the Iberian Peninsula.
During the Spanish Civil War, a concentration camp was built near the town. It was used during the war and in the post-war era; many republican prisoners were kept in there. In the early 1980s, it was remodeled and a jail was opened in its place.
In 2011, a larger jail was built in San Miguel mountain to replace the previous one.
The first census dates of 1802, at that time there were only 47 people living in Nanclares. The following official census date of 1960: 1.164 people; 1970: 1.369; 1978: 1.531; 1981: 1.345.
From the year 2000 on, a census has been made every year.
| 1,292 | 1,350 | 1,419 | 1,456 | 1,500 | 1,593 | 1,718 | 1,807 | 1,999 | 2,093 | 2,161 | 2,163 | 2,249 | 2,278 | 2,281 | 2,337 |
The central square (Spanish; Castilian: Plaza del Pueblo, Basque: Herriko enparantza) is dominated by the es|Fuente de los Doce Caños|Fountain of the Twelve Spouts, built in 1901, and the old wash-house. From the square, a little stone bridge can be seen; a stream called El Torco goes under it, which turns into a waterfall in winter.[6]
Three small towers were built by the Christinos during the Third Carlist War in the 19th century. They were used to guard, communicate and defend the area.[7]
Spanish; Castilian: El Calero was a lime oven built in 1850. It was a non-stop oven, since it was very high (15m (49feet)) and stones could be put inside the tower while the ones at the bottom were ready. The stones were heated at and the process lasted a week.[8] It was restored in 2013 and has been open to visitors since then.