Sayago - History

History

Human presence is dated since the Prehistory, with examples like the stone boar in Villardiegua de la Ribera, few dolmens or other yacimients in municipalites such as Peñausende or Almeida de Sayago. But the first human settlement which left any kind of cultural presence was Vettones, a pre-Roman Celtic people, strongly influenced by the Central European cultures. The Roman Empire also made its mark in the comarca, with the foundation of some towns (an example is Fermoselle) and a net of Roman roads across the area, joining the towns and communicating them with the closest important cities. One of the main Roman roads in the Iberian peninsula, Vía de la Plata, touches the east of the comarca,and helped the trading and the husbandry. Roman steles can be seen in some houses as they have been used as stones in the walls. Viriathus was the leader of the Lusitanian people during the resistance to the Roman expansion and was born in a Sayago's hamlet belonging to Bermillo de Sayago, Torrefrades.

During the Visigothic Kingdom in Spain, an own kingdom, called Sabaria, existed in the zone, but it was soon conquered by the Visigoths in the 6th century. Middle age passes by without any relevance and the isolation of Sayago begin to left a deep mark in the character of the comarca. The Umayyad conquest of Hispania did not leave any remarkable architecture or tradition in Sayago. In contrast, the Catholic Church dominate the life of the Sayaguese people over the High Middle Ages, submitting the towns to a strict regime where peasants had to pay the tithe from what they collect in their respective farms and give it to the local Church.

There is a worrying lack of documents about all the period between 14th century and 18th century. Only few inscriptions about the building of hermitages, cemeteries, and other religious points remained in archives. Unfortunately, it was necessary to wait for a bad date, the Peninsular War between Spain and the Napoleonic France to have any kind of news about the comarca. In its way to Portugal, the Grande Armée went through Sayago leaving awful memories in the Sayaguese people.

Spanish civil war also striked the county, with dozens of killed people because their political simpathies. From then to nowadays Sayago has experimented phenomenons like the rural exodus, or the 20th century diaspora that has led its population to really low numbers. First it was attributed to the industrialization of Spanish cities, and now the lack of opportunities for young people is what make them to move to urban areas. The isolation plays a crucial role in this situation. This big trouble could be attenuated by new initiatives like rural tourism or high-quality husbandry and agriculture.