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| LEIOA
ELIZATEKO UDALA |
AYUNTAMIENTO
DE LA ANTEIGLESIA DE LEIOA |
| BIZKAIA | |
The
History of Leioa
This
town belongs to the district of Uribe. In the Middle Ages, it was
a neighborhood of the Council of Erandio, but in 1526 it
got politically and economically seceded from his old main church and it
got an independent parish and a district with seat and vote number 36 (later
it was number 46) in the General Assembly of Gernika.
In
the Middle Ages its defence houses -Gaztelueta, Torrea, Artaza-
witnessed the Bando's (Parties) fightings that during fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries were the prevailing event in the history
of the Manor of Biscay.
Leioa
supported the Oñaz party, the Trabudua and Martiartu
lineages were allied with the Butrons house against the Avendaños,
who supported the Gamboa party.
Saint
John Baptist church
separated from Saint Mary of Erandio, to whom it was attached, after the
dispute between the parish of Leioa and the master (Juan Alonso
of Muxica) and the priests of Saint Mary. The sentence pronounced by the
archpriests of Bilbao and Durango on the 31th October 1526
was in favour of the former, provided that they buried their deads in the
old main church and attended religious services in three feast all the
year round; anyway, this costum disappeared later on.
At
the end of eighteenth century, the marquess of Mortara and the landlord
of the defence house of Martiartu shared the tithes out, but the bernefice
belonged to the former.
The
hermitages were dedicated to Saint Bartholomew and to the Virgin
of the Remedios, placed on the hill of Ondiz.
As
the district was situated next to the estuary and the Udondo river's
mouth, it could develop activities in the sea and, at the same time,
the traditional agricultural and cattle raising activities from
the interior. Its agricultural produce was carried all along the river
to be sold in the market of Portugalete.
From
the sixteenth century, after the Consulate of Bilbao was
established, the riverside in Leioa started to change and transform little
by little. Two centuries later, piers began to be built, but they didn't
get the configuration they have nowadays until the mid-seventeenth century,
when Maximo de Aguirre bought to the Estate the marshes of Lamiako
and the sandy spot of Artaza, to turn them into industrial and residential
zone, respectively.
There
settled their mansions down the most important financiers and managers
of the new-born industry of Biscay (Chavarri, Menchaca, Gana...).
The first factory that was set up in this industrial zone was the Glassworks
of Lamiako and inmediately after the Spanish Camera, Delta
and all kind of factories.
The
population increase brought a large amount of labour, and because of that,
a road next to the estuary had to be built and also a railway
with a station in Lamiako. In 1907, Saint Maximus church
was built in Lamiako that in 1935 got to be an independent church.
In
addition to being the main industrial zone, nowadays it has become more
important after the main Faculties of the University
of the Basque Country have been stablished there and after having
built the Bilbao-Getxo motorway; because of all that, Leioa has
turned into a privileged zone with exceptionally good communications.
Main
Feasts
May 29th
June 24th
August 24th
September 8th
Besides thoses feasts, the other neighborhoods
of the district have their own feasts as well:
Municipality
of Leioa is a full member of Bilbao Metropoli-30.