Santurtzi: Sculptures, Maritime Heritage and Monte Serantes

Santurtzi can be explored through art, fishing and walking routes. Santurtzi’s open-air sculpture museum features fourteen sculptures displayed at different locations throughout the town. From outdoor sculptures to a museum ship, Santurtzi offers a broad cultural range.

The Santurtzi Tourist Office is located in the fishing port. It provides information about Santurtzi, Bizkaia and Euskadi, as well as guided tours by prior arrangement. The port is therefore both the location of an information service and a starting point for organised insights into the town, its province and Euskadi.

Culture and Maritime Heritage

The Agurtza is a museum ship and also an interpretation centre for fishing techniques. It explains the fishing and preservation of albacore tuna. Regular visits to the museum ship are available in Euskera, Spanish, English and French; adapted visits are offered for groups. Fishing techniques, fishing and preservation form the thematic context of this unique exhibition venue.

The Santurtzi Itsas Museoa uses theatrical guided tours in which a traditional fish auction is presented as a scene, and it offers maritime workshops. The Santurtzi Marinero route leads to Santurtzi’s main maritime sights and themes. The facilities therefore use different forms of interpretation: as a museum ship, through theatrical presentation, as a workshop and as a themed route.

On 16 July, fishermen carry the figure of the Virgen del Carmen in a procession commemorating deceased fishermen. The Palacio Casa Torre is a Baroque building with an exhibition space. In this way, remembrance, religious tradition and historic architecture are each associated with a specific place or date in Santurtzi.

Nature and Routes

At 451 metres high, Monte Serantes is a natural viewpoint offering excellent views over Abra Bay and the coast. Monte Serantes also provides walking and cycling routes. The mountain therefore combines a clearly stated elevation, views of the bay and coast, and two types of routes.

From Santurtzi, a route suitable for pedestrians and bicycles leads from the Sardine Sellers’ Statue to the port of Zierbena. Travelling from Bilbao to Santurtzi on Metro Line 2 takes approximately 25 minutes. The route to the port and the metro connection therefore differ directly in terms of mode of transport, starting point and destination.

Other destinations include Muxika, Bilbao, Basauri, Garai, Murueta, Lekeitio, Busturi-Axpe and Bermeo.

Gastronomy

Grilled sardines, seasoned only with coarse salt and cooked over moderate embers, are closely associated with Santurtzi’s culture and gastronomy and are widely served in the town’s restaurants. Preparing them with salt and moderate heat is therefore just as much part of the speciality described as their connection with the town and its gastronomy.

For the broader travel overview: Bizkaia.