Pamplona

Iruña

Camino Francés

NavarraNavarra

From the Latin Pompaelo, founded by Pompey the Great around 75 BC during the Sertorian War. The coexisting Basque name Iruña means 'the city' (from iri/uri + definite article), a pre-Roman designation for the central city of the Vascones.

In 75 BC, during the war between Pompey and Sertorius, the Roman general founded a new city on the Arga floodplain over a previous Vascon settlement. He named it Pompaelo, 'the [city] of Pompey', following the founder-name pattern. The Latinised form evolved through palatalisation to Pampilona and on to Pamplona. The parallel Basque name Iruña preserves the local designation: iri/uri 'city' + -a article = 'the city', without further qualification —⁠as if this were the only city worth naming⁠—⁠. Both names have been official in Navarre since 1986.

Evolution of the name

  1. Pompaelo Latin 1st century BC — 5th
  2. Pampilona late Latin 6th — 9th century
  3. Iruña Basque (coexistente)
  4. Pamplona Castilian from the 12th century

Reflections, to the letter

Pamplona writes the same idea twice over. Its Romance name comes from Pompaelo, "Pompey's city," after the Roman general who around 75 BC refounded a Vascon settlement here; its Basque name, Iruna, says plainly "the city." That first settlement lies beneath your feet: the Navarreria, the highest and oldest quarter of the old town you cross on the way in, stands on the site of the original Iruna that became Pompaelo. In 2025 the city marked its 2,100th year counted from that Roman act, so climbing into the old town you walk, quite literally, through the city that named the city.

Languages of origin

Themes

Origin status

confirmed

Glossary

Etymology
The origin and history of a word and the phonetic and semantic changes it has undergone. An etymology may be confirmed, probable or disputed depending on documentary attestations and linguistic parallels.
Palatalisation
Softening of a sound as its articulation shifts toward the palate.

Sources

  • Ayuntamiento de Pamplona — De Irulegi a Pompelo · los orígenes de la ciudad, exposición en Civivox Pompelo (2026)
  • Belasko, M. — Diccionario etimológico de los nombres de los pueblos, villas y ciudades de Navarra (Pamplona: Pamiela, 1999)
  • Jimeno Jurío, J.M. — Toponimia de la Cuenca de Pamplona · Pamplona / Iruña (Bilbao: Euskaltzaindia, 1992)
  • Caro Baroja, J. — Materiales para una historia de la lengua vasca (Salamanca, 1945)
  • Mezquíriz, M.Á. — Pompaelo (Pamplona: Diputación Foral, 1958)
  • Plinio el Viejo — Naturalis Historia, III, 24
  • Estrabón — Geographia, III, 4, 10

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Camino Francés

  1. ··· toward Santiago
  2. Mañeru
  3. Puente la Reina
  4. Obanos
  5. Eunate
  6. Zariquiegui
  7. Cizur Menor
  8. Pamplona
  9. Zubiri
  10. Akerreta
  11. Larrasoaña
  12. Lintzoain
  13. Bizkarreta
  14. Espinal
  15. ··· toward the start