Durangaldea
From Elorrio, we will take a minor road with wide sidewalks to get to Argiñeta necropolis, which is located in a magical setting covered by centenary-old oaks. There we can see some splendid discoidal funeral steles decorated with solar motifs and more than 20 tombs carved in stone during IXth century. Once, these tombs contained the bodies of several important figures of a town built here more than 1200 years ago, disappeared 900 years ago and recently discovered by archaelogists.
Back in Elorrio, we will walk by the medieval centre founded in 1356. Once, the two parallel streets were protected by vigorous walls of which only remains the southern gates and the entrance of the Ronda del Río. In the narrow medieval streets, we will see some remarkable palaces, such as Arabio (c. 1570) and Arespakotxaga-Mendibil (c. 1620). Outside the enclosure is the shrine of the Purísima Concepción, built at the end of the Middle Age by request of the neighbours and containing an impressive baroque retable. We can also find the covent of Santa Ana and other palaces along Balendi Barriotxa street: Urkizu, Casajara, Arriola, Lekerika-Otsa, all of them dating from the XVIth and XVIIIth centuries.
After having lunch in one of the village restaurants, we will go to Durango, where we can visit the Art and History Museum of Durango, located in the baroque palace of Etxezarreta. There, we will complete our tour by discovering the history of Durangaldea through the objects and documents that illustrate the economic and social evolution of the town. We can also appreciate works of art by Basque artists like Aurelio Arteta, José María Urcelay and Agustín Ibarrola, among others.
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