Ziortza-Bolibar Explained

Ziortza-Bolibar
Settlement Type:Municipality
Official Name:Ziortza-Bolibar
Pushpin Map:Spain
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Spain
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Spain
Subdivision Type1:Autonomous community
Subdivision Type2:Province
Subdivision Name2:Biscay
Subdivision Type3:Comarca
Subdivision Name3:Lea-Artibai
Coordinates:43.245°N -2.5558°W
Elevation M:162
Area Total Km2:18.50
Established Title:Founded
Established Date:2005
Population Demonym:Ziortzarra Bolibartarra
Population Density Km2:auto
Blank Name Sec1:Official language(s)
Timezone:CET
Utc Offset:+1
Timezone Dst:CEST
Utc Offset Dst:+2
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:48278
Area Code Type:Dialing code
Leader Title:Alcalde
Leader Name:José Salvador Azpiazu Totorikaguena (2007)
Leader Party:EAJ-PNV

Ziortza-Bolibar (Spanish; Castilian: Cenarruza-Puebla de Bolívar) is a municipality in the province of Biscay, Basque Country (Spain), in the comarca of Lea-Artibai. It has 383 inhabitants according to the 2006 census, and has an area of 18.94 km2.

The municipality was annexed in 1969 by Markina-Xemein and recovered its independence on January 1, 2005. Records indicate its existence since the 11th century.

Etymology

The name Bolibar comes from the Basque language, meaning "windmill valley" (bolu = "windmill" and ibar = "valley"). Ziortza/Cenarruza is derived from a local name for polygonum ziaurri (historically *zinaurri) and the suffix -tza denoting a place of abundance of something.[1]

Puebla de Bolívar

Bolívar or Bolibar (in Basque) is the urban centre of the municipality, situated along the stream with the same name, at the foot of Mount Oiz.

From 1969 to 2004 it belonged, along with the neighbourhood of Cenarruza (Ziortza in Basque), to the municipality of Markina-Xemein, until a community movement managed to merge both neighbourhoods into an independent municipality.

The last name Bolívar has its origins in this locality; Simón Bolívar de la Rementería, a colonist born in this neighbourhood, took it from Europe to the America, where his famous descendant Simón Bolívar, one of the Libertadores of America, made it famous around the world. There are a couple of statues and a museum in his honour; there was a family house in Rementería, behind the local church, but it does not exist anymore.

Other illustrious people from this small village are: Diego de Irusta, who participated in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa; the abbots of the Collegiate church of Cenarruza; Diego and Bernardino de Irusta; general Francisco de Longa, hero of the Spanish Independence War; and general Pedro de Zubiaur.

Collegiate Church of Cenarruza

The Collegiate Church of Cenarruza or Ziortza is located roughly two kilometers from the urban nucleus. It was an important enclave in the Route of Santiago de Compostela, and its influence extended beyond the comarca and surpassed the religious scope.

Tradition marks its founding in the 10th century. According to legend, on the day of the Assumption in the year 968 the local inhabitants held a mass in the Church of Santa Lucia de Garay, when an eagle picked up a skull from an opened tomb and dropped it in the place where the Collegiate Church is situated today. The people understood this event to be a sign and raised the religious complex in that place.

The complex consists of:

There was a hospital for pilgrims that was destroyed in a fire and was subsequently rebuilt as a hostel managed by Cistercian monks and is the property of the monastery of Oliva in Navarra. There are remains of a walkway which formed part of the Santiago Route.

Other monuments in Bolívar

References

  1. Web site: Ziortza . Euskaltzaindia. 10 September 2011.

External links