Quiroga

Camino de Invierno

LugoGalicia

A debated etymology: from Galician queiruga / queiroga 'heather' —⁠a place of heathland⁠— or from a pre-Roman base, perhaps hydronymic, that the oldest forms seem to require.

The name is split between two ages. The most widespread reading is vegetal: from queiruga or queiroga, the 'heather' that covers these slopes, Quiroga would be 'the place of heathland', a plant-name like so many in Galicia. The other reading is deeper and less certain: a pre-Roman base, possibly hydronymic, which some support on old forms that do not sit well with heather. There is no consensus, and it is a case where the etymology should not be forced: the heather is in plain sight, the pre-Roman root only sensed. What is firm is the antiquity of the site —⁠the Crismón de Quiroga, of the 5th century, is among the oldest early-Christian pieces in Galicia⁠— and its place at the heart of the Sil's gold mining: the tunnel of Montefurado belongs to its municipality.

Evolution of the name

  1. queiruga «brezo» / base prerromana Galician / pre-Roman debated
  2. Quiroga Galician medieval – modern

Reflections, to the letter

Look at the slopes: if they are purple with heather, you have before you the likeliest etymology of Quiroga, from Galician queiruga, 'heather', the 'place of heathland'. But do not fully trust it: some hear in the name a pre-Roman root, older than the plant, and the ancient forms give it wings. It is a toponym that will not be closed. In the chapel of A Hermida the Crismón de Quiroga is kept, of the 5th century, as old as the doubt; and to this municipality belongs the mountain Rome pierced at Montefurado. Walk on without resolving the name: there are places like that.

Languages of origin

Origin status

disputed

Sources

  • Navaza, G. — Fitotoponimia galega (A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, 2006)
  • Bascuas, E. — Estudios de hidronimia paleoeuropea gallega (Universidade de Santiago, 2002)
  • Nomenclátor de Galicia (Xunta de Galicia)

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Camino de Invierno

  1. Lalín
  2. Rodeiro
  3. Chantada
  4. Monforte de Lemos
  5. A Pobra do Brollón
  6. Quiroga
  7. Montefurado
  8. Petín
  9. A Rúa
  10. Vilamartín de Valdeorras
  11. O Barco de Valdeorras
  12. Puente de Domingo Flórez
  13. ··· toward the start