Trasmonte

Camino de Finisterre y Muxía

A Coruña · La CoruñaGalicia

Transparent Romance compound from the Latin trans montem ('beyond the mountain, on the other side of the mountain'), topographic description that places the hamlet on the western slope of the Outes range, hidden behind the line of summits.

The compositional pattern trans- (Latin, 'beyond, on the other side of') followed by an oronym is productive in Hispanic toponymy for naming settlements hidden behind an elevation: Trasmiera (Cantabria), Tras la Cuesta (Asturias), Tramaced (Huesca). The hamlet of Trasmonte, in the upper Tambre basin, is documented from the 13th century as property of the monastery of San Xusto de Toxosoutos.

Evolution of the name

  1. trans montem Latin 1st–5th centuries
  2. Trasmonte medieval Galician from the 12th century

Reflections, to the letter

The name says where the hamlet sits: on the far side of the mountain. Here the Camino to Fisterra tops the watershed and crosses from the Tambre basin into the Xallas, so the ridgeline the pilgrim has just climbed is the very mountain now left behind. Look back from the descent and Trasmonte needs no glossary: it lies behind.

Languages of origin

Themes

Origin status

confirmed

Glossary

Carballeira
Native common oak (Quercus robur) forest characteristic of the Galician landscape, historically managed as communal mountain of the council. The great Galician carballeiras —⁠Souto de Rozas, Carballeira de A Magdalena, Carballeira de A Capela⁠— were maintained as neighbourhood use of firewood, livestock browsing and pig acorn until the 20th century.

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Camino de Finisterre y Muxía

  1. ··· toward Santiago
  2. Dumbría
  3. Hospital
  4. Olveiroa
  5. Logoso
  6. A Pena
  7. Vilaserío
  8. Trasmonte
  9. Negreira
  10. Ponte Maceira
  11. Augapesada
  12. Santiago de Compostela