Bilbao city guide 2017 ENG

V I T O R I A - G A S T E I Z

C I T Y B R E A K G E TA WAY S

B A S Q U E C O U N T RY

good proportion of the buildings and streets of Vitoria-Gasteiz's Historic Quarter maintain its medieval ancestry. The

names of its streets – Cuchillería, Herrería, Pintorería, Correría (Cutler, Ironmonger, Painter, Harnessmaker) and so on, are a clear reminder of the professionals that used to ply their trades in each street. On the first Saturday of each month, a market is held in which traders from the area display their wares along the street. The old Gasteiz enjoys its reputation as an Historic Heritage . As well as the ancient homes that still conserve their wooden internal architecture, you will also come across palaces like those of Bendaña , the Casa del Cordón, Escoriaza-Esquibel, the Portalón , the squares La Plaza de Brullería , Campillo and Matxete and the restored City Walls . Vitoria-Gasteiz still keeps the vestiges of the Renaissance alive. If you go up to the Montehermoso Palace, you will hear romantic tales of forbidden love. In the nearby Escoriaza Esquibel Palace, you are sure to marvel at the good taste of Fernán López de Escoriaza, doctor to King Henry VIII of England, and the doctor's wife, Victoria de Anda y Esquivel. The Villasuso Palace , one of the many congressional seats in the city, is located in the Plaza del Matxete and dominates the centre of the new Vitoria-Gasteiz

V I L L A S U S O PA L A C E

A GREAT IDEA

Routes through history

Crossing the centuries 1 In amongst all the comings and goings in the Historic Quarter, you will come across the Plaza del Matxete. A relaxing place that takes its name from the traditional oath taken by the Procurator General, which was sworn on a machete, ‘with which they would chop of the head' of anyone who did not fulfil their oath. The machete in question was kept in a niche, protected since 1840 by the very same railings that we see today.

You may well be a fan of history and culture... If that is the case, Vitoria- Gasteiz won't let you down. Its main Tourist Office organises guided tours that last two or three hours and explain the past and the present of the city, the era of Carlos V, the art of the altarpieces, the neoclassicismof Olaguibel and the milestones of the contemporary city. In summertime, these visits are brought to life in dramatic fashion.

t h e p o r t a l ó n

www.vitoria-gasteiz.org/turismo

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