Zaldibar

Zaldibar can be translatit frae Basque as "horse valley", from zaldi (horse) an ibar (valley). The coat o airms o the toun then includes a horse. Zaldívar is the name in Spaingie. Housomeivver, the toun wis namit Zaldua (Basque) or Zaldúa (Spaingie) till 1932. Zaldua is then translatit frae Basque tae Spaingie as "el soto", which micht be referred tae a sotobosque, Spaingie wird for unnerstory. "Valley o the Soto" is then anither possible oreegin o the current name.

Currently, Zaldua is considered an archaism an it is no uised, bein syne 1980 Zaldibar the offeecial name o the municipality.

 

The elizate o Zaldua, the day Zaldibar, wis pairt o the auncient merindad of Durango an haed voice an richt tae vote in the Juntas o Guerendiaga, whaur it occupee'd the seat nummer seiven. As it is common wi the elizates, the oreeginal date o foondin is unkent. The tradeetion tells that the Navarre keeng Sancho II o Pamplona (935-994) livit ten year in ane o the touers o Zaldibar as a preesoner. The awners o the forementioned touer controlled several territories o wha the day is Zaldibar. Thare are historical data that places the construction o the San Andres kirk (the kirk o the toun) in the 13t hunderyear. The kirk wis reconstructit in 1778 frae previous damage.

The municipality o Zaldibar is locatit in the sootheastren pairt o the comarca o Durangaldea an the province o Biscay. It borders at sooth wi the municipality o Elorrio, at wast wi Berriz, at north wi Mallabia an Ermua an at east wi the province o Gipuzkoa.

The main river o the toun is the Zaldu or Zalduerreka, which jyns the Ibaizabal river in Abadiño. The river is jyned bi several smaw streams as the Solozabal an Agirre-Sakona. The oriental pairt o the municipality is crossed bi the Ego river, which jyns the Deba river in Eibar.

The main road communication o Zaldibar is the N-634 which crosses the toun frae east tae wast. The AP-8 heich-gate crosses the municipality an aw but canna be accessed frae it; the nearest accesses are in Durango an Ermua. Baith roads connect Zaldibar wi the rest o Biscay (and its capital, Bilbao) an the province o Gipuzkoa (an its caipital, Donostia).

Zaldibar haes a station o the narrae-gauge regional railweys, Euskotren, which connects the toun wi ither major municipalities an ceeties like Bilbao, Amorebieta-Etxano, Durango, Eibar, Donostia an Hendaye.

• Durangaldea
• Biscay

• ZALDIBAR in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa) (in Spaingie)