Oiartzun
Encyclopedia
Oiartzun is a town of the Basque Country located in the province of Gipuzkoa (Spain
) lying at the foot of the massif Aiako Harria
.
The name traces back to the Oiasso or Oiarso of the Roman
period, an important town dedicated to mining and marine activities. However, it has been pinpointed actually in the current border town of Irun
, so the name may have referred to the whole area.
A river bearing the same name
meanders through the meadows and neighbourhoods of this sparse municipality. That is actually one of its main features, it is scattered in different quarters across the valley. Elizalde lies on a prominence and it is the central nucleus of the town, with the main church San Esteban and town hall being located there. At the foot of Elizalde lies Altzibar by the Oiartzun River. Ugaldetxo developed into an urban built-up area surrounded by industrial estates near the AP-8 motorway, while the rest of the neighbourhoods have hung onto their rural and picturesque landscape to a large extent.
Alfonso VIII of Castile
chartered it as town but it took some decades before its independence from Orereta was total.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) lying at the foot of the massif Aiako Harria
Aiako harria
Aiako Harria in Basque or Peñas de Aya in Spanish, is a massif east of the town of Oiartzun in the Basque Country. The river Oiartzun rises on its north-western face....
.
The name traces back to the Oiasso or Oiarso of the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
period, an important town dedicated to mining and marine activities. However, it has been pinpointed actually in the current border town of Irun
Irun
Irun is a town of the Bidasoa-Txingudi region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain...
, so the name may have referred to the whole area.
A river bearing the same name
Oiartzun (river)
The Oiartzun River is a short river in the Basque Country in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. It's the smallest river of Gipuzkoa flowing into the Bay of Biscay , with the river joining the sea at the Bay of Pasaia. The river rises in the Aiako Harria massif at an altitude higher than 700 m...
meanders through the meadows and neighbourhoods of this sparse municipality. That is actually one of its main features, it is scattered in different quarters across the valley. Elizalde lies on a prominence and it is the central nucleus of the town, with the main church San Esteban and town hall being located there. At the foot of Elizalde lies Altzibar by the Oiartzun River. Ugaldetxo developed into an urban built-up area surrounded by industrial estates near the AP-8 motorway, while the rest of the neighbourhoods have hung onto their rural and picturesque landscape to a large extent.
Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII , called the Noble or el de las Navas, was the King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. He is most remembered for his part in the Reconquista and the downfall of the Almohad Caliphate...
chartered it as town but it took some decades before its independence from Orereta was total.
Notable people born in Oiartzun
- Izaskun Zubizarreta GuerendiainIzaskun Zubizarreta GuerendiainIzaskun Zubizarreta Guerendiain is a Spanish ski mountaineer.Zubizarreta was born in Oiartzun. She started ski mountaineering in 1997 and competed first in the Cronoescalada race in Cerler in 2006...
, (1970 - ), Spanish ski mountaineer. - Juan María LekuonaJuan María LekuonaJuan María Lekuona Berasategi was a Basque poet in euskera.He was Manuel Lekuona's nephew. In 1953 he became a priest. After his residence in Rome, where he defended his thesis, he worked in Añorga, near Donostia...
, (1927 - 2005), priest, poet and linguist - Rafael Picavea y Leguía, (1867 - ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, 1946), industrialist, politician and journalist.
External links
- Roman Museum of Oiasso (Basque, Spanish, English and French)
- Town Hall official site (Basque and Spanish)
- Guispuscoa Government site: Oiartzun (Basque and Spanish)
- OIARTZUN in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa) Information available in SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...