CULTURAL HERITAGE OF BIZKAIA No. 47 Tower of Etxaburu

An unusual, spectacular setting and a number of fantastic legends about its origins combine to make the tower of Etxaburu one of the most popular of its kind in Vizcaya. Set on a high rock at the far end of a narrow valley that runs perpendicular to the river Mañaria, the tower’s height makes it a formidable vantage point dominating the surrounding countryside. It also provides a good view of the old road that wound its way out of Durango up towards the mountain pass before disappearing out of view and onto the Spanish meseta. The origins of Etxaburu are wreathed in legend. It is said that in the times of Roman emperor Antoninus Pius (138- 161AD), a wild boar lived in the rocks of Etxaburu, from where it regularly descended to play havoc in the area. Armed only with a lance and aided by his greyhound, a cavalier called Lope de Ondino sought out the savage animal and killed it. Lope then built the original tower on the site of the boar’s Town: den; the arms of the family and the municipal district of Izurtza both make overt reference to this event. Izurtza. Legend also has it that in times of the Visigoth king Location: Ataulphus (410-415) the tower was destroyed, only to be Barrio Ortuzar. immediately rebuilt. And nearly a century later, a member of Access: the family, captain Juan de Etxaburu, was to accompany the On the Durango-Urkiola road, in the municipal Visigoth king Gesaleicus (507-511) at the siege of Narbonne. district of Izurtza by the boundary with Mañaria, But the first reliable record of the Etxaburu family dates turn right at the signpost indicating the road to from much later. Apparently the family descended from the the Tower. Ibargoens of Durango, but were settled in Izurtza by the mid Opening hours: 15th century, when Juan Pérez de Etxaburu figures as vassal of the king - i.e., he served in war in exchange for a wage – Interior closed to visits. and patron (meaning he was entitled to collect tithes) of the Other places of interest nearby: parish of St. Nicholas. Church of St. Nicholas. By that time, there would seem to have been a tower on Izurtza . the site of the present one. This was demolished by the Bekotorre or Izurza tower. Hermandad (rural police) of Vizcaya as part of its drive to end Izurtza. the violent activities of robber nobles who used their tower Azpazar windmill. fortresses as a base from which to terrorise the local population. Izurtza. The tower was rebuilt at the beginning of the 16th century Solar de Zabala. by Sancho López de Ibargoen and his wife Estibaliz de Izurtza. Etxaburu. This is the version that, with a few changes, has Ferrería (old smithy) Aranekoa. survived to this day. Izurtza. Building Etxaburu is a rectangle that sits solidly on an irregular rock thanks to a broad arch that creates a tunnel underneath the building, providing it with one of its most unusual features in the process. The thick walls – more than a metre wide at the base – are executed in squared rubblework of reasonable quality. Door and window angles are reinforced in ashlar. At mid-height between the ground floor and the first floor is the tower’s only entrance, under a slightly irregular round arch. To reach it, one has to climb a stone staircase leading to a platform, which would originally have been an open space, perhaps defended by a low wall. At some later stage SANTANDER it was decided to install a casemate with lintelled entrance.

GERNIKA - LUMO The tower has two main floors, a sort of cellarage below with a main, residential floor above. Both are lit by narrow windows set under pointed arches. The main floor with living DONOSTIA S. SEBASTIAN A-8 quarters has something more than a couple of slits – small balconies –on the eastern and southern sides only. Windows A-68 DURANGO are set into the building in no particular order, presumably in BI-623 response to internal requirements; certainly no attempt at IZURTZA symmetry or a balanced exterior placement is discernible, something that is most clearly appreciable in the eastern VITORIA - GASTEIZ ETXEBURU façade. TOWER As in virtually all the towers of this kind, the first floor was disproportionately high, which eventually meant adding a second level of pointed, narrow windows, basically to improve the lighting. An attic would have been set above the living quarters. The three-pitch roof visible today would almost certainly have been a four-pitch roof originally, in line with usual tower construction practice. The unusually extended eaves rest on knee braces which are themselves supported by a row of jutting stone brackets set into the high part of the walls.