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Cavia (Municipality, Castilla y León, Spain)

Flag of Cavia - Image from the Escudos y Banderas de la Provincia de Burgos website, 15 January 2014

Presentation of Cavia
Symbols of Cavia

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Presentation of Cavia

The municipality of Cavia (283 inhabitants in 2012; 1,297 ha; municipal website) is located in the center of the Province of Burgos, 15 km from Burgos.

Cavia was mentioned, as Cabia, in a document dated 1 March 899, kept in the San Pedro de Cárdena monastery. The village is described on the first folio of the Becerro de las Behetrías de Castilla (1350); at the time, the village paid a rent of 396 maravedis to the king, which represented a significant amount of money and indicates that the village was populous and wealthy. The establishment of Cavia indeed predates the building of the citadel of Burgos. At the time, Cavia included three hamlets subsequently incorporated to the town of Burgos: Henar, Santaolín and El Uncar. Cavia belonged to the alfoz (group of villages) of Muñó. Alfonso XI granted Cavia to the Rojas, a powerful lineage originating from the Bureba region, subsequently made Dukes of Lerma. The Rojas erected in the 15th century a fortified manor in the village, later transformed into a more comfortable secondary residence; they were succeeded by the Altamira, who kept the village until the 18th century.

The name of the municipality was changed from Cabia to Cavia by Decree No. 57, adopted on 24 April 2003 by the Government of Castilla y León and published on 30 April 2003 in the official gazette of Castilla y León, No. 81 (text).
The Municipal Council applied for the change, "to comply with the historical reality and the genuine etymology of the village's name". The application was approved by the Government of the Province of Burgos, the Royal Academy of History, and the University of Burgos. Moreover, the change in the name was accepted because "it does not cause any confusion with other existing names".

Ivan Sache, 15 January 2014

Symbols of Cavia

The flag of Cavia (photo, photo) is horizontally divided red-white-green, with two thinner blue stripes at the top and bottom of the central, white stripe. In the middle of the flag is placed the municipal coat of arms.

The coat of arms of Cavia was designed by Friar Valentin de la Cruz, Official Chronicler of the Province of Burgos (document dated 10 November 1997), as follows: "Per pale, 1. Gules a church or ensigned with three eight-pointed stars of the same per fess, 2. Vert a mill wheel argent in chief a wheat ear or and a grapevine vert and sable (bunches of grapes) fimbriated or. Grafted in base, Argent two waves azure. The shield surmounted with a Royal Spanish crown."
The church represents the Apostle St. Peter church, embellished in the 16th century with a tower of classical style, including four storeys of decreasing proportions The three stars recall the three villages of Henar, Santaolín and El Uncar, once part of Cavia. The mill wheel and the ear symbolize grain production and flour industry, while the grapevine represents wine-growing. The two waves symbolize rivers Arlanzon and Ausin.

Ivan Sache, 14 January 2014

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