Abetxuko

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

History

Abetxuko was first mentioned in the San Millán de la Cogolla cartulary of 1025, where it appeared under the name Avoggoco. In 1257 and 1332 it appeared as Abuchucu. In 1481 it was mentioned both as Abechuco as well as Abechucu. In various sixteenth- and seventeenth-century documents it was mentioned as Abechucu or Abechuqu, as well as Avechuco. It was from the seventeenth century that the modern form, Abechuco, started to be more widely used. At first the Basque name of the town was a simple adaptation to the Basque spelling, which is the one that was formalized. However in 2001 the Royal Academy of the Basque Language proposed the form Abetxuku as the name of the Basque population. One of the suggested etymologies for the name of the village is 'place of blueberries' Basque ahabi + txoko.