Mungia

Municipality

Munguía

Flag

Coat of arms

Mungia

Location of Mungia within the Basque Country

Coordinates: 43°21′17″N 2°50′50″W / 43.35472°N 2.84722°WCoordinates: 43°21′17″N 2°50′50″W / 43.35472°N 2.84722°W

Country

Government

• Alcalde

Izaskun Uriagereke Legarreta (PNV)

Area

• Total

52.12 km² (20.12 sq mi)

Elevation

22 m (72 ft)

Population (2008)

• Total

15,848

• Density

300/km² (790/sq mi)

Demonym(s)

mungiarra

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

48100

Website

Official website

Mungia is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country of northern Spain. The town has 15,000 inhabitants.

Mungia lies 20 metres above sea level in an area full of open spaces, with a landscape of rolling hills; among these last are Gondramendi (217 m), Tallu (342 m) and Berreaga (366 m). The more important mountains nearby are (684 m) and Jata (592 m); these surround the valley of the Butroi river, which rises at the mountain of Bizkargi (536 m) and flows to the sea at the Plentzia estuary.

There are many small streams and underground springs, such as the Atxuri, Trobika, Lauromendi, Atebarri, or Mantzorriko Erreka, which are all tributaries of the Butroi river and provide water to the numerous fountains built in the town. In the past those waters helped to run more than 20 mills, some of which are still standing today.

Although there are still traces which show that the area where Mungia stands today was inhabited in prehistoric times (there is a castro - a fortified place where an army used to camp - in , and some steles of various ages have been found in neighbouring towns) the first documented reference we have dates back to the year 1051, when an abbot from Mungia ( Mome Munchiensis abba ) confirmed a gift from the Lord of Biscay to the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla.

At the beginning, Mungia, whose name comes from the Basque Mune - Ganean(which refers to its location at the edge of the Butroi river), was not much more than a tiny village with a very dispersed population. At that time the church was the only focus of the community, but the settlement later began to acquire its own significance as a result of the presence of an abbot and of its location in a strategic pass between the interior of the feudal holding and the coast, primarily at Bermeo, which had begun to stand out as an export harbour. Under these conditions, important families belonging to the nobility settled in the surrounding areas of the village and built there their tower houses. The economic power of these noblemen was based on landholdings.

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Wikipedia