Igualada
Camino Catalán por San Juan de la Peña
BarcelonaCatalunya · Cataluña
Transparent Catalan toponym, substantivised participle of the verb igualar (from the Latin aequalis, 'equal') with the sense of 'plain, levelled terrain'. The denomination, attested from 1003 as Aqualata in cartularies of the Sant Cugat monastery, describes the flat natural depression of the Anoia river basin, irrigation oasis amid the Catalan coastal ranges.
The town of Igualada is documented from the 10th century as agricultural hamlet of the Anoia basin, dependent on the Counts of Barcelona. The historical importance of the place comes from the leather industry: from the 14th century, Igualada was the principal centre of Catalan tannery —the transhumant flocks of the Pyrenees came down with skin to tan taking advantage of the Anoia waters rich in vegetable tannins—. In the 19th century the industry was mechanised and the town became the first Spanish centre of industrial footwear manufacturing. Today it houses the Museu de la Pell, monograph of leather, with the most complete documentation in Europe on the history of tanning.
Evolution of the name
- aequalis / aequalata Latin 1st–5th centuries
- Aqualata / Igualada medieval Catalan from 1003
Glossary
- Attested
- A form or word documented in writing in historical sources; opposed to "reconstructed" (forms proposed by comparative inference but not actually documented).
- Catalan vegetable tanning
- Artisanal leather tanning technique practised in Catalonia since the 14th century, based on the use of natural vegetable tannins (oak, chestnut and sumac bark) instead of industrial chromium. The complete process, of four to twelve months depending on the type of skin, produces leather of greater durability and biodegradability than modern chromium-tanned. Igualada concentrated from the 15th century the largest number of Catalan tanners in the Rec quarter, declared a Historic-Artistic Ensemble in 2003.
Sources
- Pascual i Domènech, P. — L'Anoia industrial
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Camino Catalán por San Juan de la Peña