Castiltierra is a city and a municipality which belongs to the municipality of Fresno de Cantespino, located in the province of Segovia, Castile and León, Spain.
According to the 2023 census (INE), the locality has a population of 4 inhabitants.
The town is known for its proximity to a Visigoth necropolis, looted by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
History.
In 1247 it was mentioned as "Castiel de Tierra", already being a town belonging to the Comunidad de Villa y Tierra de Fresno de Cantespino, as it is today; in the 16th century it was already named in its current form.
Nearby is the site of Las Milaneras, an old Roman camp, and there is also evidence of Roman presence in the nearby town of Riaguas de San Bartolomé.
It was an independent municipality with its own town hall until at least 1842, and in 1857 it was already listed as a district of Fresno de Cantespino.
In 1864 the residents asked the civil governor to separate Fresno and add it to the municipality of Cascajares, a request that was denied.
Culture.
Heritage.
Necropolis from the Visigothic period.
With more than 800 bodies, it was discovered by farmers in 1931, and the first excavation campaign was carried out between 1932 and 1935, led by Joaquín María de Navascués and Emilio Camps Cazorla.
During the Second World War, the germanophile Julio Martínez Santa-Olalla led the second campaign with a German delegation led by J. Werner, a member of the hierarchical leadership of archaeology in the Third Reich and personally sent by Heinrich Himmler, who was very interested in the project that linked it to a German Aryan race. The spanish archaeologist Domingo Fletcher also participated in collaborating with the Nazis.
At the end of the campaign, Santa-Olalla temporarily gave the jewels found to the German government for restoration. Today these pieces remain in German and Austrian museums.