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Sandoval de la Reina has quite a lot of history.
"Sandoval" as a word derives
from latin "SALTUS
NOVALIS", meaning something like green prairie or large
prairie, or also land with woods, meadows and farming.
A different etymological theory sets the origin of the word as
"SANDO-CUERVO" (literally:
Sando-Crow), a person who, during the Muslim invasion would lived here; it was
in 711.
In Covadonga, the place where the Reconquest began, and,
due to her/his courage defending the
Christian faith, he/she deserved Don Pelayo's favour (the Leader at the moment)
of changing her/his name and her/his place's name from SANDO-CUERVO
to SANDO-VALE (literally: Sando-is
Worth or Sando-is Courageous) that later on became Sandoval.
The appellation "DE LA REINA"
(of the Queen) is probably due to the Queen of Castile and Lyon Urraca
(1109-1126) who used to spend some periods here, but it is in fact unkown and
not documented why that specific adding.
One of the greatest persons christened in the
village has been Manuel Ortega
Carpintero (1779-1809). His heroic action consisted in
the following: the French occupation troops during the Spanish Independence
War (1808-1814) were ordered to decimate Sandoval as a punishment. Manuel
offered
himself to be executed by shooting so that the rest of inhabitants were
preserved. The execution took place in Las Carcavas field's path (the Trenches).
There's a plaque next to the church door with his name on it. The French General
who gave the order had his headquarters' troops in Sasamon, a village
near Sandoval.
There's more than one version as
how this fact was.
Pascual Madoz described Sandoval this
way in his renowned Dictionary in 1845:
"Located in the "Plain of
Fields"
(Llanura de Campos)–wide Region of Spain–, between two small elevations and divided
in two neighbourhoods. North and south winds often reign there. The climate is
warm and healthy. The most common illnesses are intermittent fevers and
pneumonia. It has 100 houses. A public inn. A mixed primary school. A parish
church (Saint Peter) attended by a parish priest and by a beneficiary and with
an adjoining graveyard /.../ Fields are good-quality and dry-farming. Paths are
local and are in an ordinary condition. Produce: cereal, vegetables and wine.
Breeding: sheep, horses and bovine. Game: hares. Industry: two flour mills.
Inhabitants: 55 families with 210 souls in all".
In addition to the church, there's a bridge upon the Odra
river built by the  Romans,
two millenniums ago. The bridge has been
restored later, probably in the Middle Ages. The original oak beams (?) can still be
seen under the water when it is crystal clear. The bridge is not precisely in a
good condition and a restoration is a need.
There's also a hermitage (Saint Roque),
currently out of use, on top of one of the heights, known locally as the "Torrejon".
What
veladores were?
Version
en Castellano
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