Anzuola

Anzuola (in Basque and officially Antzuola) is a Spanish town and municipality in the province of Guipúzcoa, an autonomous community of the country. Basque, located in the northeastern part of the Alto Deva region. It borders the municipalities of Villarreal de Urrechua, Oñate, Vergara, Azcoitia and Zumárraga.

Toponym

Anzuola is considered to be a place name that derives from the Basque language. It is made up of two terms: antzu, which means sterile and ola, a very common term in Basque toponymy, which has several possible meanings; Ola is usually used for some type of building. It is generally used to refer to a forge (burdinola), a type of manufacturing facility that was very abundant in the Basque Country during the pre-industrial period; but it also has the meaning of a simple construction such as a cabin (etxola), hut or hut (txabola). Antzu is a much less common term in toponymy. It is an adjective that means sterile, dry, applying to livestock that are not capable of breeding or giving milk. In the specific case of sheep, it was the custom of Basque shepherds to house the sterile sheep (ardi antzuak) separately from the others, so one might think that Antzuola could refer to a shack dedicated to this purpose. There is also more specifically the very similar noun antxu, which refers to one-year-old lambs and goats, equivalent to what would be a sheep and which therefore cannot yet breed. Koldo Mitxelena in his work Apellidos Vascos translated this place name as sheep hut.

Anzuola is not the oldest name of this municipality. Formerly it was called Uzarraga. Currently Uzarraga is the name of a neighborhood in Anzuola, where the primitive nucleus of the town and its first church, that of San Juan Bautista de Uzarraga, were located. Under the name San Juan de Uzarraga or Usarraga he joined Vergara at the end of the century XIV. However, the location of the parish church was not the most suitable for its parishioners, since it was too distant for many and the church was left at the end of the century XV away from the royal road that passed through another part of the valley.

In the XVI century, a new church was built, 2.5km from the original and at the bottom of the valley, in a location that was more comfortable, central for the majority of the faithful and located at a crossroads. It is possible to think that Anzuola was the name of the location in which this second church was built, because a cattle herd so called was located there or had originally been found there. This site became the new nucleus of the town and therefore gave its name to the entire municipality. The neighborhood where the church and the town hall were located, and which constitutes the nucleus of the town, is known as Olalde, which means in Basque side or area of the cabin.

By the resolution of October 10, 1980 of the Vice-Ministry of Local Administration, published in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country on November 21 of the same year, the official name of the municipality was modified, which became written Antzuola, adapting to modern Basque spelling and its pronunciation in this language.

Famous people

• Agustín Tellería (1884-1939), a traditionalist politician and head of the Requeté in Guipúzcoa.
• Juan Ezenarro Mendia, Txori-txiki (1890-1945), poet in Basque language.
• Kaxiano Ibarguren Bolinaga, Kaxiano (1932-2002), accordionist and singer.
• Gorka García (1975), a footballer, who came to debut in First Division with Osasuna.
• Aritz Berraondo Alberdi (1976), ballri of the specialty of ball hand.
• Aitor Mendizabal, Mendizabal III (1989), ballri of the specialty of ball hand.