Last modified: 2016-04-09 by ivan sache
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![[Flag]](../images/e/es-bu-hv.gif)
![[Flag]](../images/e/es-bu-h1.gif)
Flag of Hontoria de Valdearados, left, as used, right, as prescribed - Images by Ivan Sache, 3 February 2014
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The municipality of Hontoria de Valdearados (219 inhabitants in 2012; 3,358 ha; municipal website) is located in the south of the Province of Burgos, 90 km from Burgos. The municipality is made of the villages of Hontoria de Valdearados and Quintanilla de Ricuerda.
Hontoria is named for the Latin words fons and aurea, meaning "a golden fountain". Valdearados indeed reads valle de los arados, "the Plows' Valley", referring to the land located between rivers Arlanza and Duero, re-conquered in the 10th century by the three Counts of Castile, Gonzalo of Burgos, Tello of Cerezo, and Nuño of Castrojeriz. The re-settled villages formed the alfoz (group of villages) of Clunia.
Hontoria was mentioned for the first time on 7 July 1029, as
Fuentadorada, in a document of the San Juan de la Peña monastery,
located in upper Aragón. The San Isidoro monastery of Hontoria was listed on 1 July 1048 as a dependency of the Santa María monastery of Retortillo.
In the 18th century, Hontoria belonged to the Counts of Miranda and
Dukes of Peñaranda. On 16 April 1812, the guerilla led by Priest
Marino defeated the French troops in the Valdecuadro ambush, killing
63 and capturing more than 500 soldiers.
Ivan Sache, 3 February 2014
The flag and arms of Hontoria de Valdearados are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 14 February 2004 by the Municipal Council, signed on 16 February 2004 by the Mayor, and published on 3 March 2004 in the official gazette of Castilla y León, No. 43, pp. 2,914-2,915 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:
Flag: Quadrangular, tricolor red-white-blue. The upper left angle (5:5) is red, while the lower right angle (5:5) is blue. In the middle is placed the municipal coat of arms.
Coat of arms: Per pale, 1. Gules a fountain or masoned sable with two waterpipes and water azure ensigned with a six-pointed star or, 2a. Argent a grapevine leaved vert and fructed sable, 2b. Azure three ears or one per pale and two per saltire. Grafted in base, sable a mitre or charged with a cross vert. The shield surmounted with a Royal crown closed.
The golden fountain speaks for Hontoria. The star recalls the village
of Quintanilla de Ricuerda, part of the historical horizon of the
municipality. The grapevine stands for the wine-growing region of
Ribera del Duero. The ears emphasize the rural features of the
municipality. The base is a tribute to Bishop Andrés de la Cuesta
[borne c. 1516 in Hontoria, Bishop of León in 1557-1564]. The Royal Crown recalls that the Kingdom protects the present and future of Hontoria de Valdearados.
The flag is presented as square on the municipal website but the flag actually hoisted on the Town Hall (photo) is rectangular.
Ivan Sache, 3 February 2014
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