Interesting facts

A tough stage due to the steep climb above Brinkola. In winter you have to be extremely careful with the snow and the intense cold.

LEGAZPI: Population more than 8,700 inhabitants. Life here revolves around iron and its transformation. It has an Iron Museum and the industry is also reflected in the magnificent iron shield in front of City Hall. Near city hall is the beautiful church of Our Lady of the Assumption from the fourteenth century and the Bikuña palace, built in the sixteenth century.

TELLERIARTE: A village of houses scattered. Not offer services to the pilgrims.

BRINKOLA: A village of scattered houses. It does not offer services to pilgrims.

ARANTZAZU: One of the main spiritual centers of Euskadi and a reference point for our Ignatian pilgrimage. The Franciscans have preserved for centuries the tradition that the Virgin appeared to a shepherd in this place. Our Lady was on a hawthorn, something that amazed the pastor who said: “Arantzan zu?” (“You on a thorn?”). From this experience, the place became a center of Marian devotion and pilgrimage, as Ignacio de Loyola stated in his autobiography. Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries the shrine was rebuilt three times due to multiple fires. In 1959 it was decided to build a new basilica. The iron gates are the work of the sculptor Eduardo Chillida. For more information go to the sanctuary website. Perched on the mountain, the sanctuary offers the service of a restaurant and the kind hospitality of the Franciscans.