Balmaseda - Balmaseda - Guía de Recursos Turísticos

Balmaseda

When Sir Lope Sánchez de Mena conceded feudal rights to Balmaseda in the year 1199, what he was really doing was legally recognising an alredy existent reality wherein commerce and craftsmanship were granted free reing to develop their crafts at a spot found at the crossroads of roads leading from Santander, Alava and Burgos.
This reality, a town by the name of Balmaseda, went about scaling the stairway of history step by step and, at each step it took, the first town in Vizcaya left a mark comprising an impressive historical and cultural heritage behind it on its journey.
Churches, bridges, coats-of-arms, façades, images, forges, stones, villas and palaces. All cry their story out to us, each tale more intriguing than the last. Each of them wants to show us their beauty, every demonstration of which is even more breathtaking than the previous. Each of them wants to call out their name. Let us pay attention and listen to what they have to say.
The San Juan Bautista Church which houses the Town`s History Museum, the San Salvador and San Roque Chapels on the Kolitza Mountain and the Santa Clara Convent with its Church complete the religious-architectural scenario.
One of the places we must highlight is the recently opened La Encartada Beret Museum, offering a visit that will transport us back to the start of the Industrial Revolution.
The pleasing architectural merits of some civil buildings are seen in the capricious lower floors of the Town Hall, reminescent of a mosque, and the old mediaeval bridge, called De la Muza, decorated with its solemn tower.
The palaces of The Marquises of Buniel and Urrutia, the Millionaire´s House and the mansions of La Magdalena are all silent witnesses of the nobility and power the inhabitants of Balmaseda used to wield.
Nowadays, Balmaseda´s modern public buildings, industry and commerce contribute to making the town a relevant focal-point for cultural and finalcial development as well as converting it into a modern and inviting place whose history of the past 800 years is always asking to be seen.

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Balmaseda - Bizkaia

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