Oliveira de Azeméis
Camino Portugués · Camino Portugués de la Costa
Distrito de AveiroPortugal
Here Camino Portugués and Camino Portugués de la Costa converge. It is one of the points where the pilgrim shares the way with those arriving by another route.
Compound of two elements: oliveira 'olive tree' (from the Latin olivaria) + de Azeméis, a medieval personal name of probable Arabic root (az-zamîl 'the companion, the comrade'). The olive tree under whose canopy a lord named Azeméis used to gather.
Evolution of the name
- olivaria + Azeméis late Latin + Arabic 10th — 12th century
- Oliveira de Azeméis Portuguese from the 13th century
Reflections, to the letter
The name binds two things the walker knows well: the olive tree and the one passing through. Local tradition holds that under these olives the azeméis — muleteer traders coming down from the Monastery of Arouca with their goods — would tether their pack animals; hence 'Oliveira de Azeméis', the olive grove of the muleteers. Eight centuries on the town is Portugal's footwear capital, yet the walker crossing its centre repeats, on foot, the gesture that named the place: passing beneath the tree with a load on the shoulder.
Glossary
- Anthroponym
- A personal name, often used as the base of toponyms (Lucronius → Logroño, Sigerici → Castrojeriz).
Sources
- Machado, J.P. — Dicionário Onomástico Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa
- Corriente, F. — Diccionario de arabismos
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Camino Portugués