Dintestació

Dintestació is a toponymic term used in Catalan-speaking regions to denote a place located behind or at the rear of a railway station. The word functions as a descriptive label in local geography rather than an official designation.

Etymology and form: The term is a compound of estació (station) with a positional element that indicates location relative to the station, typically interpreted as “behind the station” or “at the back of the station.” This kind of construction is common in Catalan toponymy, where place names are formed by landmarks and their spatial relation to them.

Usage and distribution: Dintestació is not an administrative term. Its occurrences are primarily found in historical maps, land records, and some street or district names that reflect past layouts around stations. In many places, the label survives only in old documents or as a historical reference, rather than as a current official name.

Historical context: The expansion of railway networks in Catalan-speaking regions during the 19th and early 20th centuries produced various station-adjacent localities. Names like dintestació served as navigational cues, helping people distinguish areas near a station from other parts of a town.

Present status: Today the term is relatively rare and can be considered archaic or of local interest. When encountered, it is typically discussed in the context of toponymy, historical geography, or the study of railway-influenced urban development.

See also: toponymy, railway geography, Catalan language.