Beside it is the neo-classical Assembly Hall, where regional leaders still meet to agree their annual budget. Neither was hit in , leaving one tiny corner of continuity. So I hop in my car and drive north, towards the Bay of Biscay, to explore. First stop is Mundaka, a tiny seaside resort famous for its surf. One wall of the church is used for playing pelota, the Basque racket game.
Across the water is a fabulous beach where surfers come to catch a left-hand barrel wave. A mile or two west is Bermeo, a working port crammed with fishing boats. Two historic ships are being repaired in dry dock, and a 17th-century whaler is moored near three tempting fish cafes. Once sailors from here hunted cod and whale as far as Newfoundland, and Christopher Columbus took pilots from Bermeo on his voyages.
I wander the crumbling backstreets, past a tiny marina of blue and white yachts, up a hill of cobbled lanes where a ruined palace gapes across a baroque square. The mood is gritty, empty, real. I climb back to the car and head east, towards the cliff-side village of Elantxobe. Parking is on the road above, where space is so tight that the bus has to turn around on a tiny electric revolve.
From here, steep alleys spill down between whitewashed houses where cats prowl and washing flutters. It could be the Amalfi coast, except there are no crowds.
At the bottom is a tiny harbour where cafe Itxas Etxea — bare brick walls and wraparound glass windows — is serving txakoli, the local white wine. My hotel for the night is in the rather grander seaside resort of Lekeitio, minute drive east of Elantxobe.
He had not been to Spain, the country of his birth, for several years when the Nazis bombed the Spanish town of Guernica in He was living in Paris at the time, and never returned to his birthplace to live. Nevertheless, the attack, which killed mainly women and children, shook the artist to the core.
In , an antiwar activist and artist, Tony Shafrazi, would deface the mural with red spray paint as a protest statement. Curators immediately cleaned the painting, and Shafrazi went to jail, charged with criminal mischief.
Picasso was adamant that Guernica remains at the Met until Spain re-established a democratic republic. It would not be until , after both the artist's and Franco's deaths, that Spanish negotiators were finally able to bring the mural home. During his creation of "Guernica," Picasso allowed a photographer to chronicle its progress. Historians believe that the resulting black and white photos inspired the artist to revise his earlier colored versions of the artwork to a starker, more impactful palette.
Not only did the artist use lack of color to express the starkness of the aftermath of the bombing, he also specially ordered house paint that had a minimum amount of gloss. The matte finish, in addition to the shades of grey, white and blue-black, set an outspoken yet unadorned tone for the artwork. The mural contains some hidden images.
One of them is a skull, which is superimposed over the horse's body. Another is a bull formed from the horse's bent leg. Three daggers replace tongues in the mouths of the horse, the bull and the screaming woman. Two of the artist's signature images, the Minotaur and the Harlequin , figure in Guernica. The Minotaur, which symbolizes irrational power, dominates the left side of the work. The harlequin, a partially hidden component just off-center to the left, cries a diamond-shaped tear. The harlequin traditionally symbolizes duality.
In the iconography of Picasso's art, it is a mystical symbol with power over life and death. Perhaps the artist inserted the harlequin to counterbalance the deaths he depicted in the mural. Contact Us Terms of Use Links. All Rights Reserved. Toggle navigation Pablo Picasso. The Santa Maria Church stands on the highest point of Guernica. Although its construction started in , it went through several modifications throughout the centuries and wasn't actually finished until It is considered one of the best examples of gothic architecture in the Basque Country.
However, due to its long construction time, there are various different architectural styles found in the building. The last style of architecture employed in the Santa Maria Church was renaissance. There you will find a Walcker organ from Although the Santa Maria Church wasn't destroyed by the bombing of , it was seriously damaged and its parochial archive was lost in the fire that followed.
The fastest sport in the world, Jai Alai, has a long tradition in Guernica. The city is proud to have the second largest active fronton in the world, called Guernica Jai Alai and considered by many professional players to also be the best fronton in the world.
Inaugurated in , it was designed by Secundino Zuazo, one of the most significant architects of the 20 th century in Spain. That service includes a short introduction to the history of Jai Alai, a demonstration match to 15 points and it is also possible to put a cesta on and have a go at it yourself.
There is also another fronton in Guernica called Santanape where the most popular version of pelota is played — pelota mano. Once in Guernica, you can get to of all places of interest by foot.
However, there is a local bus service called Bidebusa which runs between am and pm. CAR — Guernica is located about 30 minutes drive from the city center of Bilbao. From Guernica, it takes about 1 h to get to both San Sebastian or Vitoria by car. In general, there is at least one bus every 30 minutes from Guernica to Bilbao every hour during the weekend and it costs around 2. The same company also offers buses that connect Guernica with other towns of the surrounding. For example, the bus A runs every 30 minutes from Guernica to Bermeo every hour during the weekend and it costs around 1.
It costs around 3. That same train continues all the way up to Bermeo. A ticket from Guernica to Bermeo costs around 1. If so, please consider booking your hotel through the links to booking. That way, you get the best rates on your hotels and at the same time, it helps us to continue contributing to this site. Everyone wins! The Best of the Basque Country. Guernica also holds great political importance since it is home to the Guernica Tree, where underneath its branches, Basques were granted autonomy in the Middle Ages.
On a lighter note, the city is also host to the Monday Market, one of the most important markets of the Basque Country. Coordinates: Public School — A survivor of the bombing. Jardines del Ferial. Guernica Tree. Stained glass ceiling in the Biscayan Assembly. Pablo Picasso's "Guernica" — reproduction. Download audio-guide. Friendly vendor at Guernica's Market. Market of Guernica.
Local produce at Guernica's Market.
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