Last modified: 2020-04-03 by ivan sache
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![[Flag]](../images/e/es-to-md.gif)
Flag of Mejorada - Image by Ivan Sache, 10 September 2019
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The municipality of Mejorada (1,265 inhabitants in 2018; 2,752 ha; unofficial website) is located 90 km west of Toledo and 10 km north-west of Talavera de la Reina.
Mejorada was originally known as Malpartida, lit., ill-shared. Due to problems of delimitation with Ávila, the village was granted a smaller territory than expected. This was corrected on 9 July 1288 when King Sancho IV trnsferred the village to Juan García de Toledo; the new name of the village, formed on Latin meliorare, "to improve, to increase" and -atam, reflected the new situation.
The Atalya (lit., Watch Tower), erected atop the Atalaya Hill (578 m), 600 m south of the village, was probably part of a networks of towers established by the Moors to control the valley of Tagus, subsequently re-used by the Christians. Its ruins are of 2.80 m in height and 1.70 m in diameter.
The ruins of the castle of Mejorada are located 200 m south-west of the village. Juan García de Toledo, first lord of Mejorado, erected the castle to emphasize his power and defend his rights agianst the Council of Talavera. The fortress formed a square of 20 m in size, protected by four angle towers; the main gate was located on the western size, guarded by a rectnagular keep. The walls are of c. 1.55 m in thickness.
Ivan Sache, 10 September 2019
The flag of Mejorada is prescribed by an Order issued on 11 November 1999 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 26 November 1999 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 74 p. 8,912 (text).
The flag is described as follows:
Flag: Rectangular, in proportions 2:3, quartered into four equal parts, blue and white, so that the upper quarter is blue.
The Royal Academy of History validated the proposed flag "without any inconvenience".
[Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia 197:3, 515. 2000]
The flag in actual use (photo, photo, photo) is charged with the municipal coat of arms.
The coat of arms of Mejorada is prescribed by Decree No. 5 issued on 4 February 1986 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 11 February 1986 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 6 p. 189 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:
Coat of arms: Per fess, 1. Or a castle gules masoned sable port and windows azure, 2. Argent a dove azure beaked and armed gules. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.
The arms were originally proposed in 1982 by José Luis Ruz Márquez and Ventura Leblic García, with the numerals "12" and "99" sable surrounding the castle. The first quarter represents the castle erected in 1299 by the first lord of Mejorada, Juan García de Toledo. The second quarter features the simplified arms of the García de Toledo, which show six doves..
[José Luis Ruz Márquez & Ventura Leblic García. Heraldica municipal de la Provincia de Toledo. 1983; Municipal website]
Ivan Sache, 10 September 2019