Basque Country monuments - Basque Country places of interest

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Basque Country Information: THE BASQUE COUNTRY AND ITS MONUMENTS

The Basque Country offers an interesting selection of aesthetic styles ranging from cave paintings to state-of-the-art constructions. The Romanesque stonework of the Basilica de Estibalitz, the great Gothic temples and towers, the impressive Baroque style of the Loiola Sanctuary, the joint work of the Basque avant-garde artists at Arantzazu or the international modernity of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao are only some of the features on the long road through the Basque Country and its monuments. The earliest artistic expressions are to be found in the caves of Ventalaperra (Carranza), Santimamifie (Kortezubi), Altxerri (Orio) and Ekain (Deba). The cave painters - hunters - left beautiful, schematic images of horses, bison and bears. The prehistoric Basques also bequeathed us with striking funerary constructions - dol mens and stone circles - or the statue of a mysterious animal in the shape of the idolo de Mikeldi, now housed in Bilbao's Museo Arqueologico Vasco.

The Romans likewise left their mark in the remains of architectural works, such as Mantible bridge in Assa (Rioja alavesa), the seven arches of which span the 164 metres of the river Ebro, or the Oppidum de Iruña near Vitoria-Gasteiz, a complete Roman city. Alava, a place of passage and artery of the inland route to Santiago de Compostela, was extremely important in the early Middle Ages, hence the fact that the greatest number and best examples of Romanesque constructions are to be found in this province. The church of San Prudencio, in Armentia, and the basilica of Estibalitz stand out sharply against the Alavese Plain.

Also worth a mention are two somewhat later Romanesque constructions, the church of Andra Mari de Elexalde in Galdakao (Bizkaia) and the sanctuary of Santa Maria "La Antigua" in Zumarraga (Gipuzkoa), considered as the "cathedral of Basque hermitages". A number of Romanesque religious sculptures are also to be found in the area.

Gothic gems

Increased development in the Basque Country during the late Middle Ages has left its mark in countless examples of Gothic architecture. In addition to churches, this style is to be found in fortifications, the layout of walled villages and towns, administrative buildings and tower-houses. The growing importance of cities at that time means that we can also admire Gothic constructions in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Catedral de Santa Maria), Bilbao (the rehabilitated Catedral de Santiago), or Donostia-San Sebastian (San Vicente Church).

But we mustn't forget to mention other Gothic gems. The Torre de los Mendoza, the frescoes covering the church of Gaceo and the entire range of historical monuments in Laguardia, Alava. The churches dedicated to Santa Maria in Lekeitio, Gernika-Lumo and Ordufia, and the Torre de Mufiatones in Bizkaia. The area within the walls of Hondarribia, the Torre Luzea in Zarautz and the church of San Salvador in Getaria, Gipuzkoa. The 16th century saw a rise in Renaissance construction throughout the Basque Country, although this often meant the mutilation of medieval tower-houses in order to add galleries, or the completion of churches started in earlier centuries. This period saw the breakthrough of a new kind of temple, the "salon" church, with three vaulted naves of the same height intended to create one single space. Gipuzkoa houses the most splendid examples of Renaissance architecture with Oñati University and the Real Seminario de Bergara. The sculptural work on these buildings varies between completely over-the-top Plateresque decoration, a certain expressive Mannerism introduced by foreign artists, and the serenity of the altarpieces carved by Juan de Antxieta, from Azpeitia. The Baroque movement was responsible for an impressive construction, the Sanctuario de Loiola in Azpeitia (Gipuzkoa).
This church is principally surrounded by buildings used as convents, usually with a cruciform ground plan and the typically ornamental simplicity employed after the Council of Trent. A similar schema repeats itself in the numerous town halls erected during this period (Labastida, Elorrio, Durango, with Roccoco paintings, Oñati, Arrasate-Mondragon, etc.), all of which have porticoed arches and facades bearing the local coats-of-arms. After centuries marked by a predominance of religious architecture, Neo-classicism led to civil architecture and to the development of urbanism.

The Casa de Juntas de Gernika dates from this period, as do the suburbs of the different capitals, Bilbao's graceful Plaza Nueva and the square of the same name in Vitoria-Gasteiz, a city outstanding for its Los Arquillos ensemble, an imaginative architectural solution to the height difference between two areas.

The triumph of eclecticism

Eclecticism was to triumph in the Basque Country in the 19th century, when it adapted elements from different styles and used them to create buildings with their own particular personality, such as the Ayuntamiento, the Palacio de la Diputacion (Regional County Building) and the Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao, or the Hotel Maria Cristina, the Teatro Victoria Eugenia and the Gran Casino (presently the Town Hall) in the capital of Gipuzkoa. Both capitals, Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastian, were the scene of modernist architectural construction during the early 20th century. The best example of contemporary aesthetics is the Arantzazu Sanctuary, collective work amongst whose creators already figured Jorge Oteiza and Eduardo Chillida, two recently deceased geniuses whose debates and proposals greatly influenced the twentieth century. Samples of Chillida's work, such as the Peine de Los Vientos (The Windcomb) are to be found beside the sea in San Sebastian, in the Plaza de Los Fueros in Vitoria-Gasteiz and in the Parque de Los Pueblos de Europa in Gernika-Lumo.
Together with the activity of numerous highly interesting Basque creators of all kinds of art, recent years have seen the carrying out of important projects, sometimes entrusted to prestigious foreign architects, as is the case of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (Frank Gehry), and the Bilbao underground (Norman Foster), or the Kursaal Centre by Rafael Moneo from Navarre.

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