Collegiate church of Zenarruza
The monastery of Zenarruza, an old collegiate church, is a religious complex made up of the church, the cloister, the hostelry, the new abbot's house, the settlers' houses, the two access doors and the rooms that house the Cistercian community, the old canons' houses and the courtyard. Except for the hostelry, built in 1997, the rest of the buildings date from the eighteenth century, and the church from the fifteenth.
At the eastern entrance, there is the cobbled path built in medieval times, and it is currently the only piece of cobbled path on the Camino de Santiago in Bizkaia. Although many crosses are missing, the path is flanked by a sixteenth-century stone Stations of the Cross.
Location
General and/or specific data
Declared a National Monument of the Basque Country.
The orography of the land on which it is located somehow forced its construction to be structured as a kind of castle.
It is one of the most important places on the Camino de Santiago along the coast and also on the Wine and Fish Route.
A Good Idea
The Collegiate Church is located in the area of Lea Artibai, which offers an endless number of plans in both its coastal and inland municipalities. You can walk and taste a delicious fish in the fishing port of Ondarroa, go to the municipality of Markina-Xemein, gateway to Bizkaia on the Camino de Santiago and whose fronton is known as the "University of the Ball" or take the GR-38 route known as the wine and fish route among many other activities.
Did you know?
Are there other monuments and religious elements of great interest throughout the territory? Very close to the collegiate church, and located in the same region, is the small hermitage of San Miguel de Arretxinaga. and in Bilbao, the capital, stands the imposing Basilica of Begoña.
As for religious celebrations, there are several examples of popular fervour that can be seen in the towns of Bizkaia, but among them, the Living Way of the Cross in Balmaseda, the Living Passion in Durango and the Holy Week processions in Bilbao stand out.