Idiazabal
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WHERE IS IT?
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GENERAL DETAILS
Official Name:
Idiazabal
No. Of inhabitants:
2162
Area:
29.50
Km2
City Council URL:
Idiazabal, well known for its cheese, is located in the south of Gipuzkoa within the Goierri region and surrounded by Atxuri and Arantzamendi ranges, and mountains that do not exceed the 1000mts. The N-1 is next to the town, an important junction of communications that connects Navarre, Alava and Gipuzkoa.
The urban area is constituted by Idiazabal as well as the Ursuaran neighbourhood, access from Etxegarate, and many farmhouses. We will find on the nearby mountains many dolmens and burial mounds from the Neolithic and the Bronze Age such as Atxurbi, Napalatza, Unanabi, Etxegarate, Bidarte and Zorroztarri.
The parish church of San Miguel, with its spectacular porch of Romanesque-Gothic style, dates back to the 12th-13th centuries. It is also worth visiting palaces such as Txomenarenea, Floreaga, Arraizenea, which belonged to Spaniards who made fortune in Latin America. Stately houses such as Eztenaga, Maugia, Oiarbide are also interesting places to go, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. In the main square, the presence of the monument to the shepherd, sign of the importance the pasture has had over the past centuries in these lands is outstanding.
Idiazabal Cheese
Idiazabal, a town in which shepherding has been an economic and social mainstay for centuries, is an exceptional place for cheese making. The Idiazabal cheese with guarantee of origin is made of pure, raw Latxa sheep milk in the farmhouses of the area, with a two-month period of ripening process.
The town has an interpretation and tasting centre, where visitors will listen in a fun and pleasant way the history of cheese and its elaboration processes transmited generation by generation. On May's first Sunday Idiazabal holds Día del Queso (Day of the Cheese), which gathers numerous visitors and shepherds from Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia, Alava and Navarre.
Whoever visits Idiazabal at the beginning of February will have a great time at San Blas' patron Saint festival. On February 3rd, well-known ring-shaped pastries called "rosquillas de San Blas" are blessed generation by generation.
The urban area is constituted by Idiazabal as well as the Ursuaran neighbourhood, access from Etxegarate, and many farmhouses. We will find on the nearby mountains many dolmens and burial mounds from the Neolithic and the Bronze Age such as Atxurbi, Napalatza, Unanabi, Etxegarate, Bidarte and Zorroztarri.
The parish church of San Miguel, with its spectacular porch of Romanesque-Gothic style, dates back to the 12th-13th centuries. It is also worth visiting palaces such as Txomenarenea, Floreaga, Arraizenea, which belonged to Spaniards who made fortune in Latin America. Stately houses such as Eztenaga, Maugia, Oiarbide are also interesting places to go, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. In the main square, the presence of the monument to the shepherd, sign of the importance the pasture has had over the past centuries in these lands is outstanding.
Idiazabal Cheese
Idiazabal, a town in which shepherding has been an economic and social mainstay for centuries, is an exceptional place for cheese making. The Idiazabal cheese with guarantee of origin is made of pure, raw Latxa sheep milk in the farmhouses of the area, with a two-month period of ripening process.
The town has an interpretation and tasting centre, where visitors will listen in a fun and pleasant way the history of cheese and its elaboration processes transmited generation by generation. On May's first Sunday Idiazabal holds Día del Queso (Day of the Cheese), which gathers numerous visitors and shepherds from Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia, Alava and Navarre.
Whoever visits Idiazabal at the beginning of February will have a great time at San Blas' patron Saint festival. On February 3rd, well-known ring-shaped pastries called "rosquillas de San Blas" are blessed generation by generation.
HOW TO GET THERE?
By road
Departing from Donostia-San Sebastián and Vitoria-Gasteiz, take N-I to exit reading Idiazabal.
Departing from Bilbao take A-8 to Maltzaga (Eibar) and connect with the AP-1 to second exit reading Bergara. Go on GI-632 to Beasain leaving Antzuola and Zumarraga behind. Finally, drive on N-1 to Vitoria-Gasteiz and take the exit reading Idiazabal.
Public Transport
By bus: Bus Company Goierrialde offers service in the area.
Where to sleep? 
© 2008 · Eusko Jaurlaritza - Gobierno Vasco
