Torremejía

Torre, from the Latin turris, specifically designates in Castilian-Extremaduran toponymy a defensive watchtower —⁠a standalone tower raised at altitude to watch over the territory, distinct from the castillo (a complete fortified enclosure) or the palacio (a manorial residence). The tower that gave its name to this Badajoz town was built by the Mejías in the 15th century over earlier vestiges, today vanished. The second element is one of the Christian surnames whose Arabic origin is transparent: Mejía derives from the personal name Mahdī ('the one guided by God'), an Islamic messianic title applied to the imam awaited at the end of times according to Shia and Sunni eschatology. The name became popular in al-Andalus during the 9th-12th centuries and, after the Christian repopulation, was inherited as a surname by Castilianised Mudejar families and by mixed descendants. The Extremaduran Mejías were one of the most important hidalgo lineages of Lower Extremadura, with properties documented since the 13th century. Camilo José Cela set here in 1942 his novel The Family of Pascual Duarte, milestone of Spanish tremendista literature.