Calafia, or Califia, is the fictional queen of the island of California, first introduced by 16th century poet Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo in his epic novel of chivalry, Las sergas de Esplandián, written around 1510. She is the namesake of the California region encompassing the U.S. state of California and the Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur.
Queen Calafia and California's name originate in the old Castilian epic Las Sergas de Esplandián (The Adventures of Esplandián), written by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo in 1510.
Calafia State Beach, located in San Clemente, California.
Mural of Queen Calafia and her Amazon warriors at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, California, painted in 1926 by Maynard Dixon and Frank Van Sloun.
Queen Califia's Magical Circle, a sculpture garden by artist Niki de Saint Phalle, located in Escondido, California
Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo
Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo was a Castilian author who arranged the modern version of the chivalric romance Amadís de Gaula, originally written in three books in the 14th century by an unknown author. Montalvo incorporated a fourth book in the original series, and followed it with a sequel, Las sergas de Esplandián. It is the sequel that Montalvo is most often noted for, mainly because within the book he coined the word California.
Los cuatro libros de Amadís de Gaula, Zaragoza: Jorge Coci, 1508