PLACE: The Puebla de Bolívar (Bizkaia)

The Puebla de Bolivar, or Bolíbar, in its modern day Basque spelling, is a typical inland village in Bizkaia, which has as its main pride and joy the honour of being the birthplace of Simón Bolívar the Liberator's ancestors, who emigrated to the Indies around the year 1557. The name "bolíbar" is a reference to the waterwheel mills that can be found throughout the area, some of which are still running today, making use of the streams and small rivers that flow through the Basque Country.

One of the main attractions of this location is, without a doubt, the Simón Bolivar Museum, built in the old "Errementarikua" farmhouse, where the Liberator's family came from and which he himself visited during his stays in Bilbao.

The Museum building is basically used to house the collections of Bolivian history and ethnography. The different items linked to the figure of Simón Bolívar are a collection of information on Puebla de Bolívar, the pieces of land linked to Simón Bolívar ancestors, as well as his biography, genealogy and family coats of arms, the colonial Caracas and the birthplace of the Liberator, the scenery of the Independence and the character of Manuela Sanz, up to the death of Simón Bolívar.

Another ancient and important monument is the Ziortza Collegiate Church (Zenarruza), an Euskadi national monument, situated on the northern slopes of the Oiz Mountain, two kilometres from La Puebla de Bolívar. From Bolívar, one can reach it by following an ancient medieval path which has been recently restored and is well worth the walk.

It has been documented since the 11th Century and it seems to have been founded in the previous century, when its "constitution" institutionalizes a lay tradition of cattle farming in the area of Oiz, around the Abbot. It is quite strange to see a coat of arms which refers to the legend that tells the story of how one day, while a service was being held at the church to celebrate the day of the Assumption, an eagle picked up a skull from the Santa Lucía de Garai Chapel in Gerrikaitz and dropped it on the slopes of the Zenarruza, which was interpreted as a sign of the desire to build a church there.