Unquera

Camino del Norte

Cantabria

Toponym derived from the Latin iuncaria ('place of reeds, rush bed'), from iuncus ('reed') with the locative suffix -aria. It describes the marshy character of the place —⁠a rush bed on the bank of the Deva river estuary, the natural border between Cantabria and Asturias. The Latin plural gave in Castilian the feminine singular form.

Iuncus, 'reed', is one of the most productive botanical appellatives in peninsular toponymy. The plant of the Juncus genus —⁠with a flexible stem, knotless, characteristic of marshes and swampy shores⁠— was a medieval economic resource: it was cut in large quantities to make mats, baskets, chairs, vine ties. The Latin locative suffix -aria formed collective nouns: iuncaria is 'rush bed', a place abundant in reeds. Peninsular toponymy preserves dozens: Unquera, Junqueira, Xunqueira, El Junquillo, La Junquera. In Cantabria, the town of Unquera sits on the estuary of the river Deva, the eastern border with Asturias —⁠a marshy landscape when low tide leaves the marshes uncovered. The toponym is one of the most transparent on the Camino: the geography directly justifies the name. The town is also famous for its corbatas de Unquera, a typical puff-pastry sweet shaped like a bow tie, invented at the end of the 19th century and marketed throughout the country from the nearby La Casa Tradicional bakery.

Evolution of the name

  1. iuncus / iuncaria Latin before the 6th century
  2. Unquera medieval Castilian from the 12th century

Reflections, to the letter

Iuncaria, a reed bed: the name simply describes what the pilgrim is looking at. At low tide the Deva estuary lays bare beds of common reed (Phragmites australis) that locals still call junqueras or unqueras, the very words Latin fossilised into the place name. Until the mid-nineteenth century almost all of this was reed and marsh, before the banks were drained for grazing.

Languages of origin

Themes

Origin status

confirmed

Glossary

Locative suffix
A Castilian ending marking "place of" or "workshop where X is worked": -ería (panadería, herrería), -ero/-era (barquera, Itero "place of the road"). From the Latin -arium.

Sources

  • Gobierno de Cantabria — Inventario toponímico

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Camino del Norte

  1. ··· toward Santiago
  2. Celorio
  3. Llanes
  4. Andrín
  5. Vidiago
  6. Pendueles
  7. Colombres
  8. Unquera
  9. Pesués
  10. Serdio
  11. San Vicente de la Barquera
  12. La Revilla
  13. Comillas
  14. Cóbreces
  15. ··· toward the start