Arriaga-Lakua was a Spanish village in

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its ca ...

, Basque Country and is at present one quarter of

Vitoria-Gasteiz es, vitoriano, vitoriana, , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = Spanish, Basque , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Geographical features

The quarter is in the same location as the former village and is approximately from the city center, adjacent to the

Zadorra The Zadorra is a river tributary of the Ebro in the Basque Country at the north of the Iberian Peninsula. The river flows across province Álava all along (with the exception of Burgos' exclave La Puebla de Arganzon) till it pours into the Ebro n ...

s banks. Only

Abetxuko Abetxuko (in Basque and officially, according to the Royal Academy of the Basque language ''Abetxuku'', ''Abechuco'' in Spanish) is a village in the municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz in Álava, Basque Country, Spain. It is located on the outskirts ...

is located further north than Arriaga-Lakua. Vitoria - San Vicente Martir de Arriaga 18

History

The first written reference to Arriaga-Lakua is in a document from 1025, located in the

cartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (''rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

San Millán de la Cogolla San Millán de la Cogolla () is a sparsely populated municipality in La Rioja, (Spain). The village is famous for its twin monasteries, Yuso and Suso (Monasterio de San Millán de Yuso and Monasterio de San Millán de Suso), which were declared a ...

(also known as Reja de San Millán). The village was most significant for its close proximity to a place called "Campo de Lakua" ("Field of Lakua"), where the institutions that ruled the

people conducted meetings. The joint institution that governed the "Lordship of Alava" was responsible for uniting the

nobles Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...

of Alava and received the name "Brotherhood of Arriaga". Arriaga-Lakua was one of the ancient villages of

that came to depend on the main city at an early age. In 1258 the ''Voluntaria Entrega'' was produced, stating that the Brotherhood of Arriaga were required to relinquish their power over the Lordship of Álava to

Alfonso XI Alfonso XI (13 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...

, the king of Castilla, in exchange for maintaining their privileges. Eight villages were eventually given to the king, including Arriaga and the city of

. Following this transfer, Arriaga-Lakua continued to host the "Juntas Generales de Álava" ("General Meetings of Álava"). During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, a fierce conflict known as the "

Battle of Vitoria At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813) a British, Portuguese and Spanish army under the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, eventually leading to ...

" occurred in Arriaga, with the opposing forces fighting to take control of the bridge of the

tributary. By the early 1960s, Arriaga-Lakua remained a small town situated at the gates of Vitoria-Gasteiz, with nearly 300 inhabitants. Subsequent urban expansion commenced in the north-west area and Vitoria-Gasteiz began to surround the village. During the 1960s and 1970s, buildings were constructed, as the village became a quarter of Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Modern era

Very little remains of the original town—the most significant remnants are the parish church and the Hermitage of San Juan de Arriaga. Arriaga-Lakua is under the authority of the Gobiernos Vasco (Basque Government), and is divided into the following sections: * Lakua 1 * Lakua 2 * Lakuabizkarra * Lakua 12 * Lakua 13 or Lakua-Arriaga Over 27,000 people live there. It is the biggest district in the city and tops its delinquency rankings. Per-capita data reveals the ranking is because of the quarter's relatively large population. Galician, Asturian and Andalusian cultural centers are located at the back of the "Gernikako Arbola" street. There is a Christian

Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ev ...

center.

Notables

Raúl Fuentes Cuenca Raúl Fuentes Cuenca (born February 9, 1975) is a Spanish pop singer known by his stage name Raúl. In 2000 he participated in the Spanish national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with his song "Sueño su boca" finishing second. Sinc ...

became a finalist representing Spain in Eurovision 2000.

Events

The quarter holds an annual festival and offers the Napoleonic market.

External links

* http://ipar-arriaga.blogspot.com.es {{Authority control Populated places in Álava