History of Morillo de Tou
Tou, a medieval village
At the top of Cotón hill, behind the current hamlet, lie the remains of a medieval settlement, likely originating between the 10th and 11th centuries. A Romanesque church was built there, of which part of the floor plan and the bell tower are still preserved. This settlement was formerly known as Tou, and the tower of the small church, Campanal de la Virgen. Over time, possibly in the 15th century although it is not known for certain, the population moved down to the plain and gave rise to Morillo de Tou.
MORILLO THROUGH THE CENSUSES
Since then, thanks to various historical censuses, we know the population of Morilo de Tou over time. At the end of the 15th century, it was called Muriello de Tou and 15 hearths or houses were already registered. These are the same as recorded at the beginning of the 17th century, when the sacristy of the Church of Santa Ana was built, which was erected earlier, surely in the second half of the 16th century.
In 1850, Madoz's Geographical Dictionary offers more details; the town has its own town hall and the inhabitant count rises to over 140 people in 19 houses.
The recent past
In the 20th century, life in Morillo before its abandonment followed the traditional model of areas near the Pyrenees, based on a subsistence economy supported by small-scale agriculture and livestock farming, along with the use of forests, hunting, and fishing.
The Mediano dam project involved the expropriation of land in surrounding localities such as Gerbe, Arasanz, Plampalacios, or Mediano itself – whose houses were submerged by the reservoir. Morillo de Tou was also subject to these expropriations, which led to its complete abandonment in the late sixties, marking the end of this chapter in its history.
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