A statue named “Califia”, an art piece standing at the corner of Main Street and Market Street, welcomes people to Downtown Turlock.
The “Califia” statue, done by artist Donna Billick, was placed downtown in 2005. The garment covering Califia was made to represent Turlock and the Central Valley region, integrating the area’s agriculture into the cloak. Calafia, also known as Califia, is a fictional warrior queen from the mythical Island of California. Spanish writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo first introduced her in his popular novel entitled Las sergas de Esplandián. The name ‘California’ is most commonly believed to have come from this novel and the fictional Queen Califia, according to Ruth Putnam’s California: the name.
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