#costoja

[useless-catalanfacts]

Costoja. Photo by levilo - Leandre on Flickr.

Costoja, a village of 100 inhabitants in Northern Catalonia, has been considered the town with the most poetic street names.

Where any normal (at least in Europe) town or city would have ordinary names like "shoe makers' street", "[insert more or less relevant historical person] boulevard", or "[name of building that once was there and which has been forgotten by time] square", the street names in Costoja take an unexpected turn.

The town has 77 bilingual street name signs written in Catalan (the local language) and French (the state's language), where you can find names such as:

Escapatòria dels Tenaços Xiuxiuejadors: Tenacious Whisperers' Way Out

Via Crucis dels Somnis Inconfessables: Unspeakable Dreams' Way of the Cross*

Plaçot dels Emprius de Tothom: Common Easements Square.

Atzucac de les Paraules Callades: Hushed Words Cul-de-sac or Unsaid Words Cul-de-sac.

Maquinacions de Xavals i Pubilles en Joguineig: Boys and Girls' Playful Machinations

Lloc del Pou Inoblidable: Place of the Unforgettable Well

Costat de les Ullades cap al Solà: Side of the Glances towards the South

Vaivé dels Pastorets: Little Shepherds' Ups-and-Downs

Tertúlia Ample del Consell dels Antecessors: Wide Get-Together of the Ancestors' Council

Enfonsament de les Mirades Llunyanes: Far-away Glances Descent

*A Way of the Cross (also called Stations of the Cross, Way of Sorrows, or Via Crucis for its name in Latin) is a kind of street present in many countries with a Christian history. It's often uphill, and throughout the street there are 14 steles with reliefs or paintings depicting the 14 stages of Christ's crucifixion day.