ALBACETE

The famous Spanish city of Albacete presents an inconsistency in its official etymology. Linguists claim it derives from the Arabic "Al-Basit," meaning "plain." There is even a street in Albacete named Al-Basit, seemingly confirming this theory.

But not quite. On Ptolemy’s map, precisely where Albacete stands today, there was a tribe called Bassitani, containing the same "Bassit" element attributed to Arabic. However, Ptolemy lived in the 2nd century, a full 600 years before the first Arabs arrived in Spain.

From a Kartvelian perspective, the toponym Baseti translates to "land of Basi." The exact meaning of Basi remains unclear, but it could plausibly be linked to the Megrelian word "basila"—a large, thick flatbread.

Albacete is also located very close to the town of Gavarda, which we previously identified in the Georgian surname "Gavardashvili." This town sits on the Shuker River, whose twin counterpart flows in Georgia as well.