Portomarín
LugoGalicia
From the Latin Portus Marini 'the port of Marinus', anthroponym + fluvial function: a medieval ford and ferry over the river Miño. The town was entirely relocated in 1962, stone by stone, to a higher elevation after the Belesar reservoir was built.
Evolution of the name
- Portus Marini medieval Latin 10th — 12th century
- Porto Marín medieval Galician 13th — 15th century
- Portomarín Galician / Castilian from the 16th century
Reflections, to the letter
When you cross the modern bridge at Portomarín over the reservoir, look north. In dry summers, the ruins of the medieval bridge and the old village reappear beneath the water. Portomarín comes from the Latin Portus Marini, “the port of Marinus”: portus is the same word behind the French port in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, but here it means “ford, river crossing”, not mountain pass. Marinus is a Roman personal name. In 1962, the Belesar reservoir flooded the valley, and the entire village was relocated stone by stone to higher ground, including the Fortress-Church of San Nicolás, Romanesque of the 12th century, dismantled arch by arch and reassembled on the hill. The numbered markings the workers painted on each ashlar are still visible against the light, like an architectural palimpsest.
Glossary
- Anthroponym
- A personal name, often used as the base of toponyms (Lucronius → Logroño, Sigerici → Castrojeriz).
- Palimpsest
- An old parchment scraped clean for reuse, where the erased text still shows faintly beneath the new one. By extension: any object, place or name where successive layers accumulate without being fully erased. Lisboa is a palimpsest of Olisipo, Olisipona, al-Ushbuna and Lixbona.
Sources
- Yzquierdo Perrín, R. — El arte románico en Lugo (A Coruña: Fundación Pedro Barrié, 1995)
- Filgueira Valverde, X. — Toponimia gallega
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Camino Francés