PLACE: San Juan de Gaztelugatxe (Bizkaia)

Situated above an abrupt wall of rock in the sea, merely united to the continent by a rustic wooden bridge, the hermitage of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is without a doubt one of the most beautiful places in the Basque coast..

The chronicles talk about the presence of a monastery or fortress back in the 10th century. The history of the this cliff is very grieved: the bastión of the resístanse of the knights of Biscay against the King of Castile; the place where the English and French pirates carried out their loots; the grave of so many ships… Gaztelugatxe today is a petitioner hermitage, a haven for fishermen, who go out into the sea to fish stripped tunny, go around the temple three times as commanded by tradition in order to have good luck.

In the same way that St. John The Baptist did according to legend, the traveller who comes to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe will have to go up the 203 steps in order to reach this amazing sanctuary and enjoy its spectacular view with the blue colour of the Cantabric sea as its main characteristic.