Sacred Art in Bizkaia
The hermitages of Bizkaia
The hermitages, known in Basque as baseliza or elizaño, are sanctuaries generally located in uninhabited areas and represent a cultural element closely linked to our traditions. There were more than seven hundred hermitages in Bizkaia, however today only about four hundred still exist. With their rites and customs, hermitages bear witness to the great mark of sacralisation that this land has seen.
They are mostly rural buildings dominated by popular carvings, which are of particular beauty. Even today, pilgrimages and celebrations still take place around them to demonstrate the tradition and devotion that have linked the people of Bizkaia with these places since ancient times.
The Way of St. James:
The churches
Rural villages and towns surprise us with their numerous monumental buildings. And the churches are always the main protagonists.
Here we visit the churches on the Pilgrims’ Route to Santiago that are classified as monumental, temples that are attractive for their history and for the artistic wealth that they preserve in their interiors.
A box of surprises waiting to be opened.
Monumental altarpieces
42 altarpieces have been declared monuments because of their uniqueness, interest and representativeness. They are complex works of art in which architecture, sculpture and painting form a whole.
Mirrors of the religious mentality of each period, they open up the possibility of learning more about that society, its economy, its artistic tastes… they take us back to a way of life and a way of feeling that is alien to our days.
