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Villalba de la Lampreana (Municipality, Castilla y León, Spain)

Last modified: 2015-01-17 by ivan sache
Keywords: villalba de la lampreana | zamora |
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Presentation of Villalba de la Lampreana

The municipality of Villalba de la Lampreana (264 inhabitants in 2009; 2,829 ha; unofficial website) is located 30 km from Zamora.

Villalba de la Lampreana is located in the valley of river Saldo, known in the 10th-12th centuries as Lampreana; it is generally believed, without firm evidence, that this name was given by the monks from Sahagún and Moreruela, who fished river lampreys (lampreas) in the river and/or reared them in natural or man-made ponds. However, toponyms based on lamprea (Val de Lampreana, Terra de Lampredana, Valle Lampredane) predate the settlement of the area by monks, therefore indicating that these "fishes" were common in the local waters.
Villalba was probably founded in the 12th century; the village was mentioned for the first time in 1152. Later in the century, Villalba was ran from the castle of Castrotorafe, owned by the Order of Saint James. The full name of the village appeared in 1481 only, as Villalva de Lanpryana.

Ivan Sache, 21 January 2011


Symbols of Villalba de la Lampreana

The flag and arms (unofficial website) of Villalba de la Lampreana are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 8 October 2002 by the Municipal Council, signed on 10 October 2002 by the Mayor, and published on 31 October 2002 in the official gazette of Castilla y León, No. 212, p. 14,426 (text).
The symbols are described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular flag, with proportions 2:3, made of a red cross throughout fimbriated white and cantonned blue with a white lamprey.
Coat of arms: Per fess, 1. Azure a town argent on waves azure and argent the wave argent charged with a lamprey sable, 2a. Argent a Cross of Saint James gules, 2b. Gules a church tower argent. The shield surmounted with a Royal crown closed.

The coat of arms shows a kind of rebus of the name of the village, a white town (Latin, villa alba) over a river rich in lampreys. The tower is the most characteristic element of the parish church, dedicated to the Ascension of the Virgin; gules and argent are the regional colors.
The flag uses the colors of the coat of arms.

Ivan Sache, 21 January 2011