Tomares
is a town in the metropolitan area of Seville I live in. The
metropolitan area of Seville includes the fourth populous city in
Spain, is composed of 46 municipalities and is estimated to have a
population of 1 519 639 as of the 2011 census and an area of 4536
km². A part of living in a small town that is referred to as a
village (pueblo) by residents (puebleros) is talking to local people
and hearing the most fascinating stories. Stories about where the
name of the town comes from, for example. There are several theories
of which the following three are the least illogical.
VERSION 1
King Ferdinand III of Castile (1199-1252), on the eve of the crucial
battle against the Arab conquerors, probably in July in 1247, mounted
a hill close to Seville and exclaimed to his troops: ¡Mañana
tomaré Sevilla! (Tomorrow I
will take Seville!). So, after reconquering Seville in 1248, the
place where the fateful word “tomaré”
was heard was named in honour of it.
San
Fernando, The King of Seville (El Rey de Sevilla). Image taken from
ABCdesevilla.es
VERSION 2
During
the Muslim presence in Seville, there was a sultan called Tomas who
had breathing problems and looked for a higher place to get some air
(tomar aire). The former name “Tomashares” came of that, which
was later changed to “Tomares” in Castilian.
Tomares, giving excellent views to Seville
VERSION 3
During
the Berber presence in Seville (namely, at the times of the Moorish
kingdom of Seville) it used to happen problematically often that the
city was flooded, possibly by the Guadalquivir waters, and the
deceased floated all around. So, the people who were settled in
Seville, African Jews among others, seeked a suitable - higher -
place for burying grounds, finding it in the today's Tomares, which,
owing to Seville's large Jewish population, became known as it is
called now because of having a word “tomares” in hebrew that means “burial”. For more about this period, see
the Jewish Encyclopedia.
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