Tourism destinations
Towns
Bergara is located in the southwest of the historical territory of Gipuzkoa, in Debagoiena region.
It is the second biggest municipality of Gipuzkoa and has 13 neighbourhoods. It is situated at an important junction of communications and less than one hour far from the three capitals of the Basque Autonomous Region: San Sebastián, Bilbao and Vitoria.
Surrounded by green mountains, Bergara is basically an industrial city of services, which proudly looks back to the past. A converging point of merchants in the Middle Ages, Bergara was remarkable for its educational institutions in the Enlightenment (18th century). A century later Carlist wars took place in Bergara, where the Embrace of Bergara (Abrazo de Bergara) gave way to the end of the first Carlist war, going down in the history of the Basque Autonomous Region.
The municipality presents many interesting monuments, among them the parish church of San Pedro de Ariznoa, Olaso Tower and Egino-Mallea and Irizar Palaces.
Hiking and festivities
Leaving behind the urban area, the municipality is full of routes for those wishing to enjoy Bergara's landscape: the burial mounds route, going along the mountain range that divides Deba and Urola Valleys, and the old railway, from the upper station to Osintxu (even to the close neighbourhood of Soraluze-Placencia de las Armas), as the main routes in the area.
What's more, many festivities take place in the area. Bergara's patron Saint festival, Pentecostés festival, takes place 49 days after Easter Monday, that is, May's second half or June's first. Bitorianatxo is the main character of the Pentecostés festival. The San Marcial procession takes place on the first days of July. But we cannot forget another three important fairs: Sábado de Ramos fair, San Martin fair and cattle fair in Elosua.
