Baena
CórdobaAndalucía
Toponymic Arabism on pre-Roman base. The medieval form Bayyāna (بَيَّانَة), attested from the 9th century, derives from the Arabic anthroponym Bayyān with locative suffix -a; but the base seems to reuse a previous Iberian toponym Bania or Vaena attested on Celtiberian coins and linked to the people of the Turdetanian Iberians of the middle Guadajoz valley.
Bayyāna was one of the important cities of the Caliphate al-Andalus: under Abd al-Rahman III (10th century), Bayyāna formed part of the cora (administrative province) of Cabra and had one of the first universities of al-Andalus —the madrasa of Bayyāna, specialised in Maliki law and Arabic poetry—. The city was reconquered by Ferdinand III the Saint in 1240. Its gastronomic patrimony is today defined by Baena PGI extra virgin olive oil, the first Protected Designation of Origin of Spanish oil (recognised in 1981 by the European Union), elaborated with the Picudo, Picual and Hojiblanca varieties of the olive groves of the Cordovan Subbética.
Evolution of the name
- Bania / Vaena Iberian 3rd–1st centuries BC
- Bayyāna Andalusi Arabic 9th–13th centuries
- Baena medieval Castilian from 1240
Glossary
- Anthroponym
- A personal name, often used as the base of toponyms (Lucronius → Logroño, Sigerici → Castrojeriz, Sacavus → Sacavém).
- 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.
- Attested
- A form or word documented in writing in historical sources; opposed to "reconstructed" (forms proposed by comparative inference but not actually documented).
- Baena Olive Oil Designation of Origin
- First Protected Designation of Origin of Spanish olive oil recognised by the European Community (1981). It comprises the extra virgin olive oil produced in the Cordovan Subbética region (municipalities of Baena, Castro del Río, Doña Mencía, Luque, Nueva Carteya, Cabra and Zuheros) with the native varieties Picudo (majority), Picual and Hojiblanca. Annual production is about 28,000 tonnes, distributed through twelve certified oil mills. It is characterised by intense fruity aroma, balanced bitter and spicy flavour, and high content of antioxidant polyphenols.
- Locative suffix
- A Castilian ending marking "place of" or "workshop where X is worked": -ería (panadería, herrería), -ero/-era (barquera, Itero "place of the road"). From the Latin -arium.
Sources
- Corriente, F. — Diccionario de arabismos
- Horcajada Campos, P. — El aceite de Baena
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