Santa Cruz de la Zarza

Santa Cruz de la Zarza, village and municipality in the province of Toledo, part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain, placed to the North-East of Mesa de Ocaña called and to the south of the river Tagus.

The most ancient remains of this villa go back to the second Age of the Iron, concretely to the necropolis of The Esperillas. It belonged to the commission of the Order of Santiago. In it urban hull there is a great number of houses - palaces with profusion of lordly shields.

Toponymy

According to account the legend, having to happen one day the Gothic king Recaredo, for the street of the "Cava" that to the season was in those days a covered rill of undergrowth, the neighbors gave fire to the brambles and between the flames, some cross of wood appeared without damage, after this fact, the village started be call Santa Cruz entre Zarzas, evolving later to the name that today has. Other sources affirm that the origin of the name of Santa Cruz de la Zarza can come from it geographical situation placed between two valleys and between these two valleys there was a mountain of bramble patches.

In any case, it seems that the toponym alludes, on the one hand, to the Order of Santiago (" the Holy Cross"); the bramble corresponds to a toponymic form own of the epoch of the repopulation later to the Reconquest, which is in the habit of using names of plants: Ajofrín (garlic), Cebolla (onion), Almendros (Almond-trees), Perales (Peartrees) (Perales de Tajuña, Perales del Río...), etc.

A last hypothesis aims that the toponym "Zarza" can be related to the group of toponyms derived from the Latin "quercus" "oak", as Cerceda, Cercedilla, Cercedo, etc. Since "quercus" is a feminine name of 4 ª decline in Latin, bramble might derive from the form of the Latin "quercea", "oak". Another possibility is that from the adjective "querceus", " relative to the oak ", there comes the form of neutral plural *quercea, " abundant site(place) in oaks, grove of evergreen oaks ". The evolution would be "Quercea> *Kercea> *Kercia> *Cerza> Zarza". Another information in favour of this hypothesis they would be the thick groves of evergreen oaks preserved in the surroundings of the municipality.

Heraldry

The shield of Santa Cruz de la Zarza is formed by a field of silver, Latin Cross of saber supported in divided and cut brambles, being it top part of sinople and it low part of gules. To the stamp, closed Sunflower.

Geography

Location

It is located in the northeast region of the province of Toledo, in the border between Toledo, Madrid and Cuenca far 85, 83 and 101 km of its provincial capitals respectively. Its length is 264.54 km², and its altitude is 790 m. Bordered by the municipalities of Villamanrique de Tajo and Fuentidueña de Tajo in the north, on the province of Madrid; Villarrubia de Santiago and Villatobas, the east; Corral de Almaguer and Cabezamesada, in the south; all of them in the province of Toledo; and Tarancón, Zarza de Tajo, Fuente de Pedro Naharro and Horcajo de Santiago, west, in the province of Cuenca. The township is crossed by the River Tagus. Its location in the northeastern part of the high plateau known as the "Mesa de Ocaña" offers from the top, with levels higher than 800 m, one of the best perspectives on the valley Tagus.

It can be seen Santa Cruz de la Zarza in [http://maps.google.es/maps?f=q&hl=es&q=santa+cruz+de+la+zarza&sll=39.99001,-3.186378&sspn=0.116,0.246162&num=10&iwloc=addr&iwstate1=saveplace Google Maps] .

Natural Resources

In Santa Cruz de la Zarza there is a very important natural asset, presenting unique habitats that have been identified as priorities by the European directives. These are the areas declared as Sites of Community Importance (SCI's), as the steppes of Toledo saline or reservoir plaster in the Tagus valley. There are Areas of Special Protection for Birds (SPB's) in the steppe area north of the stain. For all its lengthy term there are numerous caves, mostly uninhabited, and a large number of oak groves, as well as a host of water wells and water for livestock [ [http://www.asociaciondonquijote.org/municipios/santacruzdelazarza/ Asociación Don Quijote] ] .

Climate

The climate of Santa Cruz de la Zarza is Mediterranean/Continental. The winters are cool, with average temperatures lower than 5°C, night frosts very frequent and occasional snowfall (three or four a year). The summers are hot, with average temperatures higher than 24°C in July and August, with peak can reach 35°C. The thermal oscillation daily is about 10°C.

History

The village was an important communications center from the Roman, Visigoth and Arab times, as well as a fortified site, given its dominant position over the Tajo valley.

Santa Cruz was yielded to the Military Order of Saint Jacques before 1175, when an "encomienda" was settled down, after the confirmation by Pope Alexander III.

Due to its increasing importance, in 1242, under the "maestrazgo" of Rodrigo Iñiguez, it became the Head of the "encomienda".

In 1253, the master Don Pelay Perez Correa granted to the village its Foundational Chart.

Demography

According to the 2003 census its population is of 4,594 inhabitants. Its economy was formerly based on agriculture, mainly dedicated to the grapevine, olive trees and cereals, although it actually grows and moves more and more to the field of industry.

Their main celebrations take place at the end of August, in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary.

References

External links

* [http://www.santacruzzarza.es Cultural Association of Friends of the Santa Cruz de la Zarza Ethnological Museum]
* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/SP/54/Santa_Cruz_de_la_Zarza.html Maps & satellite pictures of Santa Cruz]