Elizondo in 30 seconds
Around 3,500 inhabitants (3,519 in 2020), in the middle of the Baztan valley, at an altitude of 200 m and 57.5 km from Pamplona. A small market town and the main town of a Basque-speaking valley: more than 80% of Baztan’s inhabitants speak Basque (Euskara).
A little history
Neolithic: the valley still has megalithic monuments.
1397: King Charles III of Navarre recognises the nobility (hidalguía) of the valley’s inhabitants.
1610: the Spanish Inquisition’s witch trials, targeting Zugarramurdi (a village in the area) in particular. At the Logroño auto-da-fé (7–8 November 1610), six of the accused were burnt alive and five others, who had died before sentencing, were burnt in effigy. A Witches’ Museum now pays tribute to the victims.
1834: from July, the Carlist pretender Charles of Bourbon (Carlos María Isidro) sets up his court in Elizondo.
21st century: the Baztan Trilogy by the novelist Dolores Redondo (2013–2014), translated into 39 languages and adapted for the cinema from 2017 onwards. The books make the most of the valley’s dark, misty atmosphere.
What to see
Elizondo’s noble palaces
Palacio Arizkunenea (baroque, c. 1730, now a cultural centre), Palacio Beramundea (baroque), Palacio Istekonea (known as the ‘Viceroy’s house’), as well as the Seronraenea, Ospitalenea, Txarrenea and Puriosenea houses. You can take them all in on a walk.
The Iglesia de Santiago
Built between 1916 and 1925, with a large neo-baroque façade, to replace the 16th-century church badly damaged by the floods of 2 June 1913.
Elizondo bridge
A bridge over the Baztan river. The classic view of the town’s houses reflected in the water.
The town hall
A 17th-century building, altered at a later date.
Around Elizondo — the must-sees
Zugarramurdi
THE place to go — see our guide to Zugarramurdi. The cave where the Inquisition located the witches’ gatherings (akelarres). The Witches’ Museum in the village pays tribute to the victims of the trials.
The Irati forest (further east)
About 17,200 ha, billed as the largest beech forest in Western Europe, straddling Navarre (nearly 14,900 ha) and, on the French side, Lower Navarre and Soule. Hiking.
Amaiur castle
A village in Baztan. Its fortress, defended by a hundred or so Agramonteses under the command of Jaime Vélaz de Medrano against some 4,500 attackers, surrendered on 19 July 1522 after a week-long siege. A monument from 1922, dynamited in 1931, was rebuilt in 1982; a monument to the ‘Unknown Resistance Fighter’ was added in 2007.
The Xorroxin waterfalls
At Errazu, at the foot of Mount Auza, where the Baztan-Bidasoa river rises.
Getting there
- By car: from Pamplona (about 57 km)
The perfect weekend itinerary
Saturday
- Morning: Elizondo, its palaces and the Iglesia de Santiago
- Lunch: in the village
- Afternoon: Zugarramurdi (cave + Witches’ Museum)
Sunday
- Morning: Xorroxin waterfalls
- Afternoon: Amaiur castle
Famous people linked to Elizondo and Baztan
- Dolores Redondo (born in 1969 in San Sebastián — Donostia in Basque) — novelist, author of the Baztan Trilogy (El guardián invisible, Legado en los huesos, Ofrenda a la tormenta), translated into 39 languages and adapted for the cinema from 2017 onwards.
- Pedro de Ursúa (1526–1561) — conquistador from Arizkun (Baztan), founder of Pamplona in New Granada (1 November 1549), murdered on 1 January 1561 by his own men, led by Lope de Aguirre, during the expedition in search of El Dorado.
- Agustín de Jáuregui (1711–1784) — born in Lekaroz, Governor of Chile (1773–1780) and then Viceroy of Peru (1780–1784).
- The accused of Zugarramurdi — tried by the Inquisition in 1610, they left their mark on the history of Basque witchcraft.
My favourite photo
Elizondo bridge at dawn — a light mist over the river, the town’s houses reflected in the water. Or the Zugarramurdi cave — a stone vault and a mystical atmosphere.
Sources
- Wikipedia (in Spanish): Elizondo, Baztan, Amaiur castle, Zugarramurdi witches, Dolores Redondo, Pedro de Ursúa, Agustín de Jáuregui
- Wikipedia (in French): Irati forest
Ongi etorri Elizondora — Welcome to Elizondo.