The Urdazubi/Urdax and Zugarramurdi Valleys

Here, where water carves into the stone and the echo of the streams etches the valley’s memory, time does not move forward: it settles. Between the damp limestone and the reddish ashlar, life seeps through like an invisible stream. In the Urdazubi/Urdaz and Zugarramurdi Valleys, the atmosphere is felt in the twilight of the caves — where legend still breathes — and in the steadfast stillness of the houses facing the border. 

It is a land of borders and whispers, where karstic rock and the traces of the past coexist in a profound, almost subterranean harmony that reveals itself unhurriedly, as if the identity of Xareta were emerging from the very heart of the earth.

What to see in the Urdazubi/Urdax and Zugarramurdi valleys?

The landscape of these valleys unfolds, as if every crevice and every stone held a story waiting to be heard.

• Ikaburu Cave ( Urdazubi/Urdax): An underground observation site formed 14,000 years ago by the River Urtxuma. Its interior features a display of stalactites and stalagmites of great geological beauty, and it is also one of the most significant Upper Palaeolithic sites in the region.
• Cueva de las Brujas ( Zugarramurdi): An impressive 120-metre-long natural tunnel carved out by the Infernuko Erreka stream. Unlike other caves, the main feature here is the vastness of its galleries, the setting where history records the witches’ sabbaths and the Inquisition proceedings of 1610.
• Monastery of San Salvador (Urdazubi/Urdax): An institution that marks the town’s origins in the 11th century as a pilgrims’ hospital. Of particular note is the simplicity of its 17th-century cloister, built in the characteristic red stonework, which today houses a collection of contemporary art.
• Urdax Mill: An 18th-century structure that still harnesses the power of water to turn the millstones. It offers a glimpse into the traditional process that produced flour for the surrounding farmhouses.
• Witches’ Museum (Zugarramurdi): Located in the former hospital, it explores the historical reality behind the myth, paying tribute to the victims of the Inquisition and explaining the use of natural medicine in 17th-century society.
• Indian and Civil Architecture: A stroll through our streets reveals the grandeur of palaces such as Donpedronea and Mitxelena in Urdax, or Etchenikea in Zugarramurdi, built by those who returned from America having made their fortunes.
• Pottokaren Bidea (Blue Pottoka Trail): A trail linking both villages, allowing you to immerse yourself in the landscape of chestnut and oak forests whilst following the trail of a blue horse painted on the stones, a reminder of the old smugglers’ paths.