Almadén de la Plata

Vía de la Plata

SevillaAndalucía

Compound toponym. Almadén, from Hispanic Arabic al-maʿdin ('the mine, the mineral deposit'), one of the most widespread mining Arabisms in Castilian. De la Plata clarifies which metal was extracted —⁠the Sierra de Sevilla had silver deposits exploited from Roman times to the 19th century.

Maʿdin, 'mine, mineral deposit', with the Arabic article al-, is one of the technical Arabisms that medieval Castilian adopted from Andalusi mining lexicon —⁠alongside almagra (red iron mineral), almojarife (tax collector), arroba (measure). Hispanic toponymy preserves several Almadens: the famous Almadén of Ciudad Real, world capital of mercury for centuries; the Extremadura Almadenejos; and this Almadén de la Plata in the northern Sierra of Sevilla. The byname de la Plata is categorical —⁠the range had silver deposits exploited from the Roman domination (which organised the first systematic network of Hispanic mines) until the last industrial activity in the 19th century. Local mineralogy also included lead and cinnabar, frequently companions of the silver vein. The town, head of the council, sits in the Aracena range and preserves the parish church of the Asunción, Mudejar reformed in the Baroque. The Plata pilgrim crosses it after Castilblanco, in the mountain dehesa —⁠one of the most solitary stages of the Camino.

Evolution of the name

  1. al-maʿdin Hispanic Arabic 8th — 13th centuries
  2. Almadén de la Plata medieval Castilian from the 13th century

Reflections, to the letter

Al-maʿdin: the mine. The name is the trade that founded the place, and the sierra still bears it out: at Los Covachos, within the Natural Park, you can make out the marble quarries the Romans opened on the so-called Mons Marmorum, which supplied stone for monumental Baetica. Among those seams silver was worked too⁠—⁠the metal that fixed the surname and set this Sevillian mine apart from the mercury Almadén of Ciudad Real.

Languages of origin

Themes

Origin status

confirmed

Glossary

Almadén / Maʿdin
An Arabism of Castilian (from Hispanic Arabic al-maʿdin, 'the mine'), incorporated into the medieval technical mining lexicon. It produces toponyms at several peninsular mineral exploitation sites: Almadén (mercury), Almadén de la Plata (silver), Almadenejos.
Arabism
A word or place name in Castilian, Portuguese or Catalan borrowed from Andalusian Arabic. The Peninsula preserves thousands: aceite, azúcar, almohada, alcázar, azulejo, Guadalquivir, Atalaia, Azofra, Azambuja.

Sources

  • Asín Palacios, M. — Contribución a la toponimia árabe de España

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Vía de la Plata

  1. ··· toward Santiago
  2. Los Santos de Maimona
  3. Zafra
  4. Calzadilla de los Barros
  5. Fuente de Cantos
  6. Monesterio
  7. El Real de la Jara
  8. Almadén de la Plata
  9. Castilblanco de los Arroyos
  10. Guillena
  11. Sevilla