Guernica (town)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gernika-Lumo | |||||
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| The Gernika oak | |||||
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| Location | |||||
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| Coordinates : 43,19° n. 2,40° w. Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer: CEST (GMT +2) |
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| General information | |||||
| Native name | Gernika-Lumo (Basque) | ||||
| Spanish name | Guernica | ||||
| Founded | 1366 | ||||
| Postal code | 48300 | ||||
| Website | http://www.ispaster.net/ | ||||
| Administration | |||||
| Country | Spain | ||||
| Autonomous Community | Basque Country | ||||
| Province | Biscay | ||||
| Comarca | Busturialdea | ||||
| Mayor | Miguel Angel Aranaz Ibarra (PNV) | ||||
| Geography | |||||
| Land Area | 8.6 km² | ||||
| Altitude | 10 m AMSL | ||||
| Population | |||||
| Population | 15,571 (2004) | ||||
| Density | 1810,6 hab./km² (2004) | ||||
Gernika-Lumo, (pronounced [geɾˈni.ka lu.mo]), formerly Guernica y Luno in Spanish, and commonly shortened as Gernika, known to English and Spanish speakers as Guernica and sometimes pronounced in English as [ˈgwɛɹ.nɪ.kə]) is a town in Biscay province, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Gernika is united in one municipality with neighbouring Lumo (formerly "Luno" in Spanish). The population of the municipality is 15,571 (2004).
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[edit] Political importance
It is historically the seat of the Juntas/Biltzar (parliament) of the province of Biscay, whose executive branch is located in nearby Bilbao. For centuries prior, Lumo (rather than Gernika, that being a chartered town was without suffrage in Biscay) had been the meeting place of the traditional Biscayan assembly (Orduña and the chartered villas were under the direct authority of the lord of Biscay, Encartaciones and the Durango area had separate assemblies for several centuries), which met under an oak tree, known as the Gernikako Arbola, which is a symbol of the traditional freedoms of the Basque people. The trees are always renewed from their own acorns. One of the trees (the "Old Tree") that lived until the 19th century may be seen, as a dry stump, near the assembly house. A tree planted in 1860 to replace it died in 2004 and was in turn replaced; the sapling which had been chosen to become the official Gernikako Arbola is also sick so the tree will not be replaced until the earth around the site has been refreshed. A hermitage was built besides the tree to double as an assembly place, followed by the current house of assembly (Casa de Juntas/Biltzar Jauregia), built in 1826.
[edit] History
The Lords of Biscay, upon receiving their title, would come to Lumo to make oath of respect to the Biscayan laws. Later the lordship became attached to the title of King of Castile so the kings came to Lumo, eventually Gernika-Lumo to take the oath soon after taking office.
In 1882, Guernica y Luno was formed uniting the village of Luno and the chartered town of Guernica.
Outside the Basque lands, Gernika is best known as the scene of an early instance of aerial bombing by the German Luftwaffe (Condor Legion) on April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War (see Bombing of Gernika). The Germans were attacking to support the efforts of Francisco Franco to overturn the Spanish Republican government. The town was devastated, though the Biscayan assembly and the Gernikako Arbola survived. Pablo Picasso painted his famous Guernica painting to commemorate the horrors of the bombing.
In 1943, Ajánguiz (opposite river Oka) was added without a change of the name of the aggregation. In 1967 the municipalities of Arrazua, Cortezubi, Forúa, Murueta and Navárniz were annexed.
Because of its symbolic value, the current Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country was approved in Gernika 29 December 1978, with the support of the Basque Country government-in-exile, heirs to the 1936 Statute of Autonomy. Every Lehendakari (Basque President) takes his oath there.
The annexions of 1967 have been re-established as standing municipalities.
[edit] Environment
The Gernika estuary or Urdaibai is a Biosphere Reserve, with a rich area of marsh and sand banks that is home to a great variety of bird species.
[edit] Sports
Gernika is home to the Gernika Jai Alai, one of the main courts for the jai alai sport.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official site in English, Basque and Spanish
- Image of Guernica
- Painter and art educator Dorothy Koppelman writes on "Aesthetic Realism and Picasso's Guernica: For Life"
- GERNIKA-LUMO in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa) (Spanish)
