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Casariche (Municipality, Andalusia, Spain)

Flag of Casariche - Image from the Símbolos de Sevilla website, 6 June 2014

Presentation of Casariche
Symbols of Casariche

See also:

Presentation of Casariche

The municipality of Casariche (5,596 inhabitants in 2014; 5,290 ha; municipal website), is located 120 km south-east of Seville, on the border with the Provinces of Córdoba and Málaga.

Casariche is the most probable site of the pre-Roman town of Ventippo / Ventipo; several archeological remains from the Iberian, Roman and Muslim periods have been excavated on the Atalaya Hill, located 3 km north of the today's downtown.
Ventippo is known by coins minted in the 3rd-2nd century BC in Roman - instead of Iberian - style, epigraphic inscriptions, and written sources: the anonymous author of Bellum Hispaniense reports in Chapter XXVVII that "Caesar besieged the fortified town of Ventipo, and, after its surrender, headed to Carruca where he fought Pompey", while Pliny the Elder lists in Chapter XII of Book III of his Natural History Ventipo among he towns forming the Conventus Astigitanus. The etymology of the name of Ventippo is unclear. Francisco Estepa López proposed that Ventippo means the Windy Town, formed on the Latin word ventosa, "windy" and the Iberian word ipo, "a town".
Pliny also mentions a Roman town named Oningi (Municipio Flavio Oningitano). The study of a lapidary inscription (2nd-3rd century) engraved on a stone excavated in the Las Angulas farm led José María Luzón to conclude in 1968 that Oningi was located on the municipal territory of Casariche. The El Alcaparral villa was discovered in July 1985 in Las Cuarenta. Probably built in the 3rd century, the villa yielded remains of 14 mosaics, including a big one (3.65 m x 3. 20 m) representing the Judgement of Paris, now kept in the Seville Archeological Museum.

Ivan Sache, 6 June 2014

Symbols of Casariche

The flag of Casariche (photo, photo, photo, photo) is white with the municipal coat of arms in the middle.

The coat of arms of Casariche is "Tierced per a bend checky argent and gules of three orders, 1. Azure a sun or radiant ensigned by a Marquis' coronet of the same, 2. Vert a Roman helmet argent feathered or and gules the motto "VENTIPPO" sable. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown."

The checky bend is derived from the arms of the Centurión lineage, also featured on the arms of Lora de Estepa, Gilena and La Roda de Andalucía.
The first quarter shows a sun recalling the old arms and symbolizing freedom. River Yeguas was once the border between the Christian and Nasrid states, so that Casariche was the place of several battles until the fall of Granada in 1492. The Marquis' coronet recalls that the Marquis of Estepa were lords of Casariche until the late 18th century.
The second quarter shows a Roman helmet and the name of Ventippo, recalling the pre-Roman and Roman past of the town.
[Municipal website]

Ivan Sache & Klaus-Michael Schneider, 6 June 2014