Gernika

One of the highlights of my present trip throughout Euskal Herria has been the chance to visit Gernika. Usually when I post information about this iconic town I do it referring to the brutal bombing ordered by the Spaniards to punish the Basque dream of freedom.

This time, thanks to EITb, here you have some tips in case you have the chance to visit this beautiful town:

On route

Way of St. James in Basque Country: Coastal road - Gernika-Lumo

08/10/2006

Gernika-Lumo was the place where the Lords of Bizkaia would meet, beneath the oak tree, in order to come and pledge to abide by their privileges.

Gernika-Lumo is especially relevant on this route. In the first place because its was here that travellers joined the road on coming from Bermeo, through Mundaka, Axpe-Busturia and Forua, having started their journey by sea and landed at this port. These travellers followed the remains of the old Roman road communicating the town of Forua (a site which has been undergoing excavation for a number of years) with the more romanized lands of the Mediterranean catchment area.In the second place, Gernika-Lumo is important because it has been considered as the cradle of freedom of the Basque people since time immemorial.

Located in the Bizkaian anticlinal, this town stands at the centre of the River Oca valley, at the birth of the Mundaka Estuary and beneath the rocky outline of the bordering mountains, with the outstanding Mount Sollube (663 m.) to the NW. This peak is recognised as one of the horn-blowing mountains of the Seignioralty, that is, from which horns were blown to tell people from the surrounding area when meetings were going to be held or warn them of imminent danger.

Formerly a parish, and later a town, founded by Don Tello in 1366 with a privilege signed in Orduña and granting it the Fuero, or charter of Logroño, Gernika-Lumo was the place where the freemen of Bizkaia would meet, beneath the oak tree, in order to go about governing the area according to their traditions and customs. It was to this spot that the Lords of Bizkaia would come and pledge to abide by their privileges.

Today the Casa de Juntas (Provincial Council Building), serves as the institutional headquarters of the Bizkaia General Assemblies, archive and museum. This complex centres around two basic buildings, the meeting room with its different offices, built in a Neo-classical style during the 19th century, and the atrium with the oak tree and hermitage of Nuestra Señora la Antigua, also Neo-classical, which is obviously not the one re-built in 1410 by Gonzalo Moro, the first mayor to be appointed in Bizkaia. According to a document from 1454, this building used to have an adjoining hospital.

The church of Santa María, started in the 14th century, and finished in 1715, has a large staircase leading to the atrium and to the Gothic splayed doorway, with a mullion and sculptures, as well as an outstanding statue of the Virgin Mary. The rectangular interior of this church has three naves covered with typical vaults.

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