Guitiriz () is a municipality in the province of

Lugo Lugo (, ) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 100,060 in 2024, ...

, in the autonomous community of Galicia, northwestern Spain. It belongs to the

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

Terra Chá A Terra Chá is a comarca of Galicia, in the Province of Lugo. The overall population of this local region is 47,697 (2005). The regional capital and major population lies in Vilalba. A Terra Chá is in the northern interior of the province L ...

. It is known for its

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. It is usually still, but may be sparkling ( carbonated/ effervescent). Traditionally, mineral waters were used or consumed at t ...

. Prior to 1950, the town was known as Trasparga.

Etymology

The name Guitiriz is of Germanic origin. It is derived from the name

Witteric Witteric (; Portuguese language, Portuguese and Galician language, Galician: ''Viterico''; 565 – April 610) was the Visigoths, Visigoth Visigoth Kingdom, King of Hispania, Septimania and kingdom of Galicia, Galicia. He ruled from 603 to 610. R ...

; a

Suebi file:1st century Germani.png, 300px, The approximate positions of some Germanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 1st century. Suebian peoples in red, and other Irminones in purple. The Suebi (also spelled Suavi, Suevi or Suebians ...

king who ruled

Gallaecia Gallaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province in the north-west of Hispania, approximately present-day Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias and Leon and the later Kingdom of Gallaecia. The Roman cities inclu ...

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

and

Septimania Septimania is a historical region in modern-day southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of '' Gallia Narbonensis'' that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theod ...

. According to local legends,

founded Guitiriz in the 6th century.

Parishes

''(also known as: "Parroquias")'' # Becín # Buriz # Labrada # Lagostelle # Mariz # As Negradas # Parga # Pedrafita # Pígara # Roca # Trasparga # Vilar # Vilares de Parga

History and tourism

Though the early settlers were of

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

ic origin and the Romans knew about the therapeutic properties of the

thermae In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...

, it was not till the arrival of the

after the collapse of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

that this Spa Town became really popular for the first time in the 6th century. The name "Guitiriz" is derived from "Witirici", the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...

of Witiricus meaning "''the place owned by Witiricus''" (i.e.: Witiricus the

warlord). In the 14th century the entire Terra Chá Region (including Guitiriz and its capital Villalba) ended up as part of the domains of

Fernán Pérez de Andrade Fernán Pérez de Andrade or Fernán Peres d'Andrade (? – 1397) was a Galician knight. His birthdate is unknown but is presumably before 1330. His death date fell between July 28 and August 21, 1397. As the fourth son of Ruy Freyre de Andrade ...

whose family were to become the First Counts of Villalba during the reign of the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

. Amongst other remains in the area is a well conserved

medieval fortification Medieval fortification refers to medieval military methods that cover the development of fortification construction and use in Europe, roughly from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the Renaissance. During this millennium, fortifications ...

, the Castle of Parga, and a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

bridge.

References

External links

*
Web-site devoted to the Spa Town of Guitiriz in North-western Spain
*
The Hespederia (i.e.: Chain of Hotels) in the Spa Town of Guitiriz
*
Tower of the Andrade Counts of Villalba in the Terra Chá Region - Built at the very end of the Middle Ages 14th Century
{{authority control Municipalities in the Province of Lugo

Etymology

Parishes

History and tourism

See also

References

External links