Guevara (in

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

and officially Gebara) is a small village and former municipality through which the Zadorra River runs. The village is administered by the council of Barrundia and situated in the province of

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 ...

, in the

Basque Autonomous Community The Basque Country (; eu, Euskadi ; es, País Vasco ), also called Basque Autonomous Community ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, links=no, EAE; es, Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, links=no, CAPV), is an autonomous community of Spain. It ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. There is a local festival dedicated to the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

on August 15.

Historic development

Guevara is first attested in Roman times as lying in the territory of the

Varduli The Varduli were a pre-Roman tribe settled in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, in what today is the eastern region of the autonomous community of the Basque Country and western Navarre, in northern Spain. Their historical territory correspond ...

, thought to be probably

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

according to ongoing discussion. The name appears as "Gebala", linguistically related to cognate Gothic "''gibla''" or Greek "''kephale''", 'head, prominence'. However, no archaeological findings related to that period have been unearthed to date. Records are mute during the early Middle Ages, but we hear of Guevara again in the 11th century in a document referred to the counts of

Oñati Oñati ( eu, Oñati, es, Oñate) is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the north of Spain. It has a population of approximately 10,500 and lies in a valley in the center of the Basqu ...

(Oñate). The place is renowned for the role played by the lords of Guevara in the bloody Basque Party Wars of the late Middle Ages and their castle conspicuous from miles away at the top of a hill. On the hill are: * The Castle of Guevara: destroyed in the Carlist Wars (19th century), now in ruins. * Palace of the Guevara family: at the foot. * Church of the Assumption (''Iglesia de la Asunción''). The Brotherhood of Guevara (''Hermandad de Guevara'') formerly administered the village of Guevara, as well as Elguea, Etura and Urízar, but after the municipal reforms of the 19th century, the Brotherhood was converted into a municipality. In 1885, the municipality was integrated into that of Barrundia. {{coord, 42, 53, 37, N, 2, 30, 41, W, region:EH_type:city(100)_source:kolossus-euwiki, display=title Álava