Oiasso,
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
, 2, 6, 10 Oiasona
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
, Geographia
The ''Geography'' ( grc-gre, Γεωγραφικὴ Ὑφήγησις, ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis'', "Geographical Guidance"), also known by its Latin names as the ' and the ', is a gazetteer, an atlas, and a treatise on cartography, com ...
III, 4, 10. The Casaubonus editions of 1587 and 1620 write ''Oídasoûna'', corrected by Adolf Schulten to ''Oíasoûna''. or Oiarso
Pliny
Pliny may refer to:
People
* Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'')
* Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
, 3, 29 was a
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 ...
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
town located on the left bank of the
Bidasoa
__NOTOC__
The Bidasoa (, ; french: Bidassoa, ) is a river in the Basque Country of northern Spain and southern France that runs largely south to north. Named as such downstream of the village of Oronoz-Mugairi (municipality of Baztan) in the p ...
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
in the
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
(current
Basque Country, in Spanish territory). Archaeological evidence unearthed recently pinpoints the core area of Oiasso in the old quarter of
Irun
Irun ( es, Irún, eu, Irun) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, Spain.
History
It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as ...
(
Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...
) by the Spanish-French border, where harbour and bath remains have been discovered. However, two other focuses in
Cape Higuer
The Cape Higuer ( eu, Higer lurmuturra) is a cape on the Bay of Biscay standing out at the end of the mountain range Jaizkibel by the France–Spain border in the municipality of Hondarribia ( away from the town centre). The site is home to a light ...
and hermitage Ama Xantalen (
necropolis
A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead".
The term usually im ...
and
mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
) point to a wider complex outside the main nucleus.
Actually, some authors note that the name Oiasso may have applied to the whole valley, arguing that the very name of the Bidasoa River may stem from
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
"via ad Oiasso", eventually rendering ''
Bidasoa
__NOTOC__
The Bidasoa (, ; french: Bidassoa, ) is a river in the Basque Country of northern Spain and southern France that runs largely south to north. Named as such downstream of the village of Oronoz-Mugairi (municipality of Baztan) in the p ...
'' 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 ...
. Furthermore, it is widely assumed that the name for the town
Oiartzun some 10 km away may have developed from Oiasso. A Roman road linked this spot to ancient
Pompaelo all the way through the ''Saltus Vasconum'' (the
Vasconian wilderness), with the road being built to connect the Vasconian main town to the mines of ''Arditurri'' set in the massif of
Aiako Harria. Romans showed an early interest on them on account of the ore (largely silver and copper) they could extract from them, using the port and factories of Oiasso to process and dispatch the freight away.
A museum was founded recently in
Irun
Irun ( es, Irún, eu, Irun) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, Spain.
History
It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as ...
to cater for the interest the vestiges unveiled have aroused and for tourism.
Earlier it was misidentified with current
San Sebastián
San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...
, that is still nicknamed ''la bella Easo'' ("The beautiful Easo", a Hispanization of Oiasso).
See also
Iruña-Veleia
Veleia was a Roman town in Hispania, now located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. The site is located in the municipality of Iruña de Oca, 10 kilometers west of Vitoria. The town was an important station on the Roman road ''ab A ...
References
External links
Oiasso Roman Museum*
*
*
*
{{coord missing, Spain
Basque history
Roman towns and cities in Spain
Former populated places in Spain
Vascones