Gaztelugatxe

It’s a beautiful journey to do by foot from the restaurant Eneperi to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. You will find, at the right side of the restaurant a path that says “San Juan” that will take you to the chapel.

There is also a paved road, with better access, but with the heavy rain of these past months the road was destroyed since it sunk three meters down. This is why the only possibility is to walk down from Eneperi.

The first part is very pretty, with a stoned path where you can already enjoy beautiful views of Aketze and San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. After this first part you will find a mud and slippery path. Your clothes might get quite dirty.

I’ve always wanted to visit this chapel. I had seen it in pictures and thought that it must be one of the most beautiful corners one could see.
But now that I’ve seen it I can say that there’s not much to see, it’s just the landscape that surrounds it. I didn’t climb the 237 steps (I will have to do it some other time). I just got up to the viewpoint halfway. I have to say that it’s not easy to get there, first there is quite a steep slope, but at least it’s paved.

Afterwards there is the viewpoint, and then you have to keep going down on a rocky path. Then you would have to go up the stairs and then walk back, and my feet were not up to it.

Through a narrow tongue of land and after going up 237 steps, you reach this small island with a chapel dedicated to San Juan that dates to the 10th Century.

Together with the neighboring island of Aqueche , they form a protected biotope that extends from Baquio to Cape Machichaco, in the Gulf of Vizcaya. Wild olives, heathers and wild oaks form part of the Basque endemism. It is an incredibly beautiful site, as well as magical.

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is an isthmus occupied by an old bridge with a winding trayectory; it looks like an island and that is the way that the local people refer to it. It is located in the Bay of Biscay and belongs to the municipality of Bermeo, in the Basque Country.

The little church remains closed most of the time; it is from the 10th century and of Templar origin. In 1053 it was donated by Don Íñigo López Señor de Bizkaia, to the monastery of San Juan de la Peña located near Jaca in Huesca.

It is a must stop if you are in the Basque Country.