Vitoria tourism - Vitoria-Gasteiz culture, art and monuments - Alava, Basque Country

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Basque Country Information: VITORIA-GASTEIZ Information

The city has an enchanted feel to it, the appea rance of a storybook city captured beneath a glass dome, that glows, that conveys important information to the traveller in a subtle wink of the eye». Discovering the enchanting magic of Vitoria-Gasteiz as described by the novelist Ignacio Aldecoa is a subjective experience. Objective data confirm that the capital of the Basque Autonomous Community offers one of the best standards of living in Spain. Green areas, pedestrian precincts and excellent installations make this medieval city an exceptional place.

Outstanding among the city parks are El Prado, a one time pastureland converted for public use in the 19th century; Judimendi, standing over the site of an ancient Jewish cemetery - as recalled by a monolith raised in memory of the important part played by the Jewish community in the development of Vitoria until its expulsion; and Juan de Arriaga which, with its extension of 18 hectares, is the largest park in the city. The lake surrounded by an amphitheatre or the sports installations are to be found beside the oath-taking hermitage of San Juan, meeting place of the Arriaga brotherhood, the collective then in charge of governing Alava.

20 m2 per inhabitant. Vitoria-Gasteiz has more open space per capita than anywhere else in Spain and is one of the best cities in Europe as far as natural areas are concerned. The figures are overwhelming: forty parks, 80,000 trees and 200,000 bushes make the city into a real botanical garden where classic varieties such as horse chestnut, plane, lime or ash trees rub elbows with more exotic specimens, such as the enormous sequoia standing beside the Catedral Nueva, the ginko trees populating the Calle Castillo de Ocio or the Japanese privets.

Aside from the urban parks in its different districts Ariznabarra, Molinuevo, San Martin... Vitoria-Gasteiz has a 'green ring' that surrounds the city, which is constituted by Salburua, Olarizu, Armentia, and Zabalgana parks. These parks serve as a natural lung for the city and they allow us to make use of nature.

FROM FORTIFIED TOWN TO PLACE OF TRADE

The best known park is La Florida, right in the centre of town. It was started in 1820, and still has a feeling of 19th century French gardens. La Florida is the starting point for the three kilometres of walkway through the woods connecting the city centre to the Armentia meadows, and the Basilica of San Prudencio, a gem of Basque Romanesque construction. Apart from the green of its open-air spaces, VitoriaGasteiz is also recognisable for the colour of its buildings. This Basque capital has the best conserved medieval old quarter and was granted the qualification of historical monument in 1997. The tiny hamlet of Gasteiz already stood at the top of a hill in the Llanada alavesa region when, in 1181, the King of Navarre, Sancho VI the Wise, decided to found the town of Nueva Victoria on the same site as an outpost for defending his kingdom. The original walled nucleus, with barely three streets, was soon besieged by the kingdom of Castile, to which it surrendered in 1200. Rebuilt following a fire, three new streets were added to the east side of town (Correria, Herrerfa and Zapateria), followed only a few decades later by yet another three to the west (Cuchilleria, Pintoreria and Juderia).

The names of these streets are proof in themselves that the town's condition of fortified outpost was gradually changing, and that it was becoming a place of trade based on the different crafts. The prosperity of the families who owned these crafts businesses led to' the construction of stately homes and mansions. Walking today through the streets of the oval-shaped old quarter takes us past countless beautiful medieval (Casa Cordon, Torre de los Anda, El Portalon) and Renaissance buildings (the Escoriaza-Esquivel, Villasuso, Bendafia and Montehermoso mansions, etc.), architecturally identical today and kept alive by means of their use for other purposes. Most of them now house museums and civic centres. The recovery of crafts workshops - where wineskins were made for example - and the proliferation of bars popular with the youngsters mean that the rehabilitation of the old quarter hasn't come to a halt at the simply architectural aspect.

FOUR CHURCHES

There are four outstanding towers in the oldest part of the city, which in turn belong to four important temples: , the Cathedral of Saint Mary or Old Cathedral, Gothic temple-fortress of huge richness whose restoration works are of obliged visit for the tourist; the Church of San Pedro, dating from the same period; that of San Vicente, the only church in Alava to have been built in the style known as "saI6n", and the Parish church of San Miguel, where the locals venerate the city's patron saint, the Virgen Blanca. The brotherhood corresponding to this church is in charge of organising the procession known as the Rosario de los Faroles.Next to the church of San Miguel is the area known as Los Arquillos, a series of terraced and arcaded buildings that cleverly solve the problematic difference in height between the old quarter and the newer part of town, started in the Neo-classical style with the beautiful Plaza de Espafia, before spreading outwards. The more modern city centre, set around the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca and the Calles Postas and Dato with their unusual sculptures, is a busy pedestrian precinct and popular meeting place. In August, the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca witnesses the beginning of the festivities in celebration of the local patron saint with the descent of the popular character known as Celed6n. The San Prudencio fiesta, in April, is another important rendezvous on Vitoria's festive calendar, as are the International Jazz Festival (July), the Theatre Festival and the Video festival.

A CITY OF MUSEUMS

On the subject of culture, we have to mention the abundance of cultural and civic centres with respect to which Vitoria-Gasteiz is a pioneer, not forgetting the numerous museums to be found all over the city. Perhaps the most unusual is the Museo Fournier de Naipes, containing a collection of over 20,000 playing cards related to every period and subject at the Palacio de Bendaña. The Museo de Arqueologfa (Casa de los Gobeo) takes us through prehistory, Romanization and the Late Middle Ages in Alava. The Museo Diocesano de Arte Sacro, located in the Catedral Nueva which took six decades of the 20th century to build - gives us a look at the local religious heritage; and the Museo de Ciencias Naturales (Torre de Doiia Otxanda) has an excellent mineral and fossil collection.

The Museo de Armería, beside Ajuria-Enea, offers a complete collection of weapons and armour. Only two minutes from Vitoria-Gasteiz, the Museo de Bellas Artes, which, occupying the beautiful Palacio Augusti and its gardens, houses an interesting collection with sections dedicated to paintings of Basque customs and manners or contemporary art. Not far from the old part of the city the Artium, Basque Centre of Contemporary Art, is located.
The last inclusion to the museum tour are these 13,000 square metres that, along with temporal exhibitions and activities, show one of the most complete Contemporary Art collection, which has been classified in different themes.

CAPITAL OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY

The latter two museums are located in the Paseo de Fray Francisco de Vitoria where, standing among other mansions, we will find a stately home of Basque inspiration but designed by a Swiss architect, Alfredo Baeschlin. This building is Ajuria-Enea, official residence of the President of the Basque government, or of the lehendakari in Basque. The decision, taken in 1980, to designate Vitoria-Gasteiz as the capital of the Basque Autonomous Community caused more than a little upheaval in the city, which saw several buildings being constructed in its Lakua suburb in order to hold the different departments of the Basque Government. In addition to fitting out Ajuria-Enea, renovation work was carried out on an old college next to the Parque de La Florida in order to house the Basque Government.

Vitoria is the capital of both the Basque Country and of the province of Alava. It also houses over three-quarters of the Alavese population. Throughout the 20th century, but particularly in recent decades, steady growth and the quality of life have given rise to a phenomenon of demographic concentration in this comfortable, warm, commercial, administrative, services and pedestrian-friendly city.

	More Alava tourist Information
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