Last modified: 2019-01-13 by ivan sache
Keywords: merindad de río ubierna | masa |
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The municipality of Merindad de Río Ubierna (1,393 inhabitants in 2010; 27,523 ha; unofficial website) is located in the center of the Province of Burgos, 10 km of Burgos. The municipality is made of the former municipalities of Celadilla-Sotobrín (83 inh.; 6,093 ha), Cernégula (40 inh.; 2,398 ha), Gredilla la Polera (34 inh.; 3,125 ha), Hontomín (94 inh.; 2,264 ha), Masa (30 inh.; 4,345 ha; partially incorporated), La Molina de Ubierna (26 inh.; 2,294 ha), Quitanarruz (21 inh.; 2,146 ha); Quintanilla-Sobresierra (76 inh.; 3,799 inh.), Sotopalacios (494 inh.; 594 ha; capital), Ubierna (173 inh.; 2,491 ha), Villanueva de Río Ubierna (78 inh.; 819 ha) and Villaverde Peñahorada (116 inh.; 1,424 ha)
Merindad de Río Ubierna groups more or less the same villages as the alfoz (group of villages) of Ubierna, mentioned for the first time on 29 September 1028. When the municipal system was set up in the 19th
century, the villages formed Jurisdicción de Ubierna. The old castle
of Ubierna, built in 884 by Diego Rodríguez Porcelos on behalf of King Alfonso III, was a Castilian stronghold in the first Christian
reconquest and in the struggle against Navarre. Among his subsequent owners were the Counts of Castile, Diego Laínez and his son, El Cid.
In the 14th century, the Manrique, Governors of Castile, ruled a big
territory from their castle located in Sotopalacios. The castle, known
as the Governors' castle, is also known locally as the Cid's Palace
because the tradition says it was built by Diego Laínez. El Cid might have been born c. 1048 in the San Millán de Villentre borough.
Celadilla-Sotobrín is the birth place of Andrés Díaz Venero de Leyva (1515-1578), the first President of the Royal Court of New Granada (1564-1574) and the founder on 29 April 1572 of the town of Leyva (Colombia).
Ivan Sache, 18 June 2011
The flag and arms of Merindad de Río Ubierna are prescribed by a
Decree adopted on 13 December 2001 by the Municipal Council, signed on
10 January 2002 by the Mayor, and published on 7 February 2002 in the
official gazette of Castilla y León, No. 27, pp. 2,055-2,056 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:
Flag: Quadrangular, with proportions 1:1. The whole field argent (or) crossed from the chief to the base by two wavy stripes azure distant from each other of 1/10th of the flag's side. In the middle it shall represent the large space of material prosperity and happy social interaction to be supplied by Merindad de Río Ubierna to all its settlements and inhabitants. Peace and prosperity were the aspirations of our ancestors, who founded the alfoz and the early Merindad.
The flag is a tribute to the sign of local identity, river Ubierna, the hydrologic heart of the Merindad and so significant for the history, geography and economy of the villages part of this famous municipality.
Coat of arms: Gules a castle or masoned sable port and windows azure (arms of Castile), in base two waves azure (river Ubierna), a bordure azure charged with 16 towers or and, in turn, spikes or. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.
The municipal flag and arms shall be incorporated into the municipal protocol; the municipality shall allow their use to private citizens and hoist the flag together with the national (or Spanish) flag, the flag of the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León and the flag of Europe [European Union]. The inhabitants and the foreigners shall respect them as the sons of a renewed Merindad able to maintain in its 16 constituting settlements the purest environment in Castile, organized more than one millennium ago, as demonstrated in the supporting memoir.
The description of the flag is quite obscure. The old municipal
website shows the flag with the blue wavy stripes placed diagonally
and the municipal coat of arms in the middle of the flag.
On the shield, the field gules represents victory, force and sacrifice
with the Castilian spirit. The 16 castles represent the 16 inhabited
settlements forming the municipality. The spikes represent agriculture
while the waves represent river Ubierna.
Ivan Sache, 18 June 2011
![[Flag]](../images/e/es-bu-mx.gif)
Flag of Masa - Image from the Escudos y Banderas de la Provincia de Burgos website, 23 February 2015
The flag and arms of Masa are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 17
September 2004 by the Village Council, signed the same day by the
Mayor, and published on 30 September 2004 in the official gazette of
Castilla y León, No. 190, p. 14,004 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:
Flag: Quadrangular, 1:1. Green with a white bend of 1/10 in height. The municipal coat of arms of Masa placed in the center of the flag.
Coat of arms: Vert a bend argent charged with a Cross of Saint James gules surrounded dexter by a sheep passant argent and sinister by six bees or placed 3, 2 and 1. The shield surmounted with a Royal crown closed.
Ivan Sache, 56 February 2015