According to legends, the current church of St. George was originally founded as a monastery by English monks fleeing from religious persecution. They established themselves on the Basque coast, specifically the
Somorrostro Valley, from which would later develop the town of Santurtzi. The name Santurtzi is derived from the
Latin Sant Georgi, as was the hermitage in
Gordejuela near current Oquendo. In neighbouring
Cantabria,
Burgos and
Araba exist several towns with variations of the same name: Santurde, Santiurde de Reinosa and Santurdejo. The Spanish language form
Santurce first appeared in 1333, whilst its Basque counterpart would first be shown written in 1372. During the
Middle Ages it could also be found referred to as
San Jurdic, San Yurdie, Sturse and
Santursi, amongst others. In current day, both names are used interchangeably, with certain preference given to
Santurtzi, given its frequent use in Spanish. The official name of the municipality has also seen various changes. During the 19th century it was officially considered to be Santurce, however in 1901 it was divided in two. The inland part of this division would become Santurce Ortuella, as the mining town of
Ortuella had grown enough to promote itself as the largest urban conglomeration of Santurce. The coastal side maintained its population base in Santurtzi, and began to be called Old Santurce. The cultural and traditional relationship between the two divisions can still be observed in the border area of
Kabiezes. On 14 November 1980,
Vicente Zorita Alonsoa candidate for the Basque Parliament and a long time administrative employeewas murdered by
ETA as a statement against political supporters of the
oligarchy. ==Geography==