Last modified: 2015-01-17 by ivan sache
Keywords: castrogonzalo |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
See also:
The municipality of Castrogonzalo (513 inhabitants in 2010; 2,511 ha) is located in the north-west of the Zamora Province.
Castrogonzalo was built on the site of a Celtiberian fortress watching
river Esla, then the border between the Astures and Vaccaei, later the
border between Castile and León. In 1600, the old ferry was replaced
by a stone bridge surmounted with two towers used to watch the border;
two wardens could lock the bridge with chains when required.
The village was located on the crossroads of the Royal
cañadas (transhumance raods) of Madrid and Zamora; it was used as a
convenient place of rest by coaches, postmen and shepherds, which
triggered the building of inns and hotels in the place called
Paradores (Hotels) of Castrogonzalo.
Ivan Sache, 27 April 2011
The flag and arms of Castrongonzalo are prescribed by a Decree adopted
on 26 November 1997 by the Zamora Provincial Government, signed on 11
December 1997 by the President of the Government, and published on 30
December 1997 in the official gazette of Castilla y León, No. 250 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:
Flag: Rectangular flag, with proportions 2:3, made of three horizontal stripes with proportions 2/3, 1/6 and 1/6, the upper stripe red with two white towers, the middle stripe white and the lower stripe blue.
Coat of arms: Gules a bridge agent masoned sable ensigned with two towers argent linked by a chain argent over waves argent and azure. The shield surmounted with a Royal crown closed.
The Royal Academy of History validated the proposed coat of arms but required the design of a new flag, arguing that the proposed flag included only the towers from the coat of arms. The dropping of the bridge and chains undermines the meaning of the heraldic design (Boletín de la Real Academia de Historia, 1999, 196, 2:347).
Ivan Sache, 15 January 2014
