Karrantza Harana/Valle de Carranza | |
---|---|
Country | Spain |
Autonomous community | País Vasco |
Province | Biscay |
Comarca | Enkarterri |
Government | |
• Mayor | Raúl Palacio (KZ) |
Area | |
• Total | 137.87 km2 (53.23 sq mi) |
Elevation | 155 m (509 ft) |
Population (2018) [1] | |
• Total | 2,715 |
• Density | 20/km2 (51/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Postal code | 48891 |
Website | Official website |
Karrantza Harana/Valle de Carranza (in Basque Karrantza Harana, in Spanish Valle de Carranza), is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country. It is located in the comarca of Enkarterri and it is the westernmost and largest (by area) municipality of the province.
Film director Víctor Erice was born there.
The first recorded appearance of the toponym of Carranza is on the Chronicle of Alfonso III, dated in the 10th Century, where it appears as Carrantia. According to the text, Carrantia was one of the towns known to be populated during the reign of Alfonso I, King of Asturias. The origin of Carrantia comes from the Cantabrian dialect, meaning "high rocks".[ citation needed ] From Carrantia it would evolve to Carranza, the current Spanish toponym. Karrantza is the Basque toponym, an adaptation of Carranza following the Basque orthographic rules, and it is the official name of the municipality since 2001.
The first known vestiges of the human presence in the valley of Karrantza are some lithic tools, from the late Middle Paleolithic. [2] In Karrantza is located the sanctuary of Venta Laperra, the oldest of the entire Basque Country, with several forms of Paleolithic art. There is evidence of ancient pastoral activity, as well as art forms belonging to hunter-gatherers from the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. [2]
The oral traditions tells of the presence of Romans in the lands of the valley, which were interested in the exploitation of galena from the Ubal mountains. Diggings effectuated in some of the caves within the municipality revealed Roman pottery. In 1903 more than one hundred Roman coins were found, all dated from 238 to 260. [2]
The first records about the valley of Karrantza are from the 8th Century, when the King of Asturias Alfonso I was conducting a series of resettlements on the Atlantic region of the Iberian Peninsula, as they were mentioned in the Chronicle of Alfonso III one century later.
The valley of Karrantza was incorporated to the Lord of Biscay in the 12th Century. It belongs to the territory of the Enkarterri, which was itself incorporated to Biscay in the 13th Century.
Karrantza is located in the westernmost part of the Enkarterri region and is the largest (by area) of all the municipalities of Biscay. Karratza is 54 kilometers away from the head of province Bilbao and limits at north by the autonomous community of Cantabria, at east mostly with the Cantabrian exclave of Villaverde de Trucios, and the Basque municipalities of Turtzioz and Artzentales, at south with the province of Burgos and at west with the tiny municipality of Lanestosa and the Cantabrian community.
The Karrantza CD football club is the most important sport club. It is in regional categories of Basque football.
The Bay of Biscay, known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay, and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony, is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal. The south area of the Bay of Biscay that washes over the northern coast of Spain is known locally as the Cantabrian Sea.
The Kingdom of Asturias was a kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula founded by the Visigothic nobleman Pelagius. It was the first Christian political entity established after the Umayyad conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 718. That year, Pelagius defeated an Umayyad army at the Battle of Covadonga, in what is usually regarded as the beginning of the Reconquista.
Cantabria is an autonomous community and province in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a comunidad histórica, a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east by the Basque autonomous community, on the south by Castile and León, on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea.
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao.
Balmaseda is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country. Balmaseda is the capital city of the comarca of Enkarterri, in western Biscay and serves an important role in the province thanks to its proximity to the capital city of Bilbao and the regions of Cantabria and Castile and León.
Ajangiz is a town and municipality in the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country. It is located in the Busturialdea comarca, and was part of the municipality of Gernika-Lumo between 1940 and 1991.
Galdames is a valley, town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain.
Artziniega (Artzainaga) is a town and municipality in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain. Located in the northwest of Araba, on the border with Burgos, Castile and León and Biscay, it was at the junction between the old Kingdom of Castile and the ports of the Bay of Biscay.
Greater Bilbao is an administrative division of the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the seven comarcas of Biscay and the most populated one. The capital city of Greater Bilbao is Bilbao.
The Franco-Cantabrian region is a term applied in archaeology and history to refer to an area that stretches from Asturias, in northern Spain, to Aquitaine and Provence in Southern France. It includes the southern half of France and the northern strip of Spain looking at the Bay of Biscay.
The Varduli were a pre-Roman tribe settled in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, in what today is the eastern region of the autonomous community of the Basque Country and western Navarre, in northern Spain. Their historical territory corresponds with current Basque-speaking areas, however it is debated whether the Varduli were actually Aquitanians, related to the Vascones, or if they were Celts, related to tribes such as the Cantabri and Celtiberians and which later underwent Basquisation.
The Autrigones were a pre-Roman tribe that settled in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, in what today is the western Basque Country and northern Burgos and the East of Cantabria, Spain. Their territory limited with the Cantabri territory at west, the Caristii at east, the Berones at the southeast and the Turmodigi at the south. It is discussed whether the Autrigones were Celts, theory supported by the existence of toponyms of Celtic origin, such as Uxama Barca and other with -briga endings and that eventually underwent a Basquisation along with other neighboring tribes such as the Caristii and Varduli.
Enkarterri is a comarca of the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the seven eskualdeak/comarcas or districts that make up the province of Biscay. Its administrative centre is Balmaseda.
The Cantabria autonomous football team is the regional football team for Cantabria, Spain. They are not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA and therefore are only allowed to play friendly matches.
The Basque jaurerriak or señoríos were a series of feudal territories that came into existence in the Basque Country in the Middle Ages. The lordships were hereditary land titles over territories of variable size under the name of a lord or count. The title and lands were often recognized by kings to Basque chieftains. It is loosely related to the concept of manorialism as the king had to swear allegiance to the Foral law in exchange for military assistance from the Basque chiefs, who were considered sovereign over their own lands and people. The Basque señoríos generally conformed vassal states of larger kingdoms; most of them started as domains of the Kingdom of Pamplona but were conquered and attached to the Kingdom of Castile by the 13th century. The Basque term jaurreria means "the lord's country" and it is usually used to refer to these feudal territories.
Valle de Villaverde is a town and municipality in the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. It is surrounded by the Basque municipalities of Carranza, Arcentales, and Trucíos, but the town belongs to the administration of the government of Cantabria. Thus, it is an enclave of Biscay and an exclave of Cantabria.
The Lordship of Biscay was a region under feudal rule in the region of Biscay in the Iberian Peninsula between c.1040 and 1876, ruled by a political figure known as the Lord of Biscay. One of the Basque señoríos, it was a territory with its own political organization, with its own naval ensign, consulate in Bruges and customs offices in Balmaseda and Urduña, from the 11th century until 1876, when the Juntas Generales were abolished. Since 1379, when John I of Castile became the Lord of Biscay, the lordship was integrated into the Crown of Castile, and eventually the Kingdom of Spain.
The Asno de las Encartaciones, Basque: Enkarterriko asto, is a breed of small domestic donkey from the western part of the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in north-east Spain. It is named for the comarca of Las Encartaciones (Enkarterri), in the province of Biscay (Bizkaia). It is the only small donkey breed of Spain, and resembles the Gascon donkey, now a sub-type of the Pyrenean donkey. The Asno de las Encartaciones is critically endangered, and is protected by conservation measures.
Vasco-Cantabria, in archaeology and the environmental sciences, is an area on the northern coast of Spain. It covers similar areas to the northern parts of the adjacent modern regions of the Basque country and Cantabria. In geology the "Vasco-Cantabrian Basin" or "Basque-Cantabrian Basin" covers the area and the seas off the coast, in the Bay of Biscay, an area between the Iberian and European tectonic plates.
The Monchina, Basque: Behi montxina, is a Spanish breed of mountain cattle indigenous to the autonomous communities of Cantabria and the Basque Country in northern Spain. It is related to the Betizu and possibly to the Terreña breeds of cattle of the Basque Country, and is closely associated with the Villano de las Encartaciones breed of dog, which is traditionally used in managing it. It is classified by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, the Spanish ministry of agriculture, as a "Raza Autóctona en Peligro de Extinción" or native breed at risk of extinction.