Situated in the interior of Guipúzcoa and surrounded by a beautiful valley with green mountains, the town of Oñati has medieval origins, and within it we can find many architectural jewels, a sign which lets us know about the glorious past of the town.

Without a doubt, the most emblematic and significant building in the town is its old university, the Sancti Spiritus University, which was conceived and paid for by Don Rodrigo Mercado de Zuazola, Bishop of Avila, Viceroy of Navarre and President in Granada, in 1,548. Although it is closed nowadays, the University was in use from 1542 until 1901, and Theology, Canons, Law and sporadically Medicine.

Its style is based on renaissance plateresque, and it is one of the best examples of the civil architecture of its times. One must stress its amazing facade, which invites us to contemplate it thoroughly. Inside the University, we can find the magnificent and well-balanced cloister; the crafty Mudjars as well as the altarpiece in the chapel, carved by Pierres Picart, without a doubt one of the best sculptors of his times in the Basque Country.