Discover Oñati: Culture, Caves and Trails

Culture and History

Oñati’s old town is classified as a cultural asset in the category of historic monument ensemble. The Oñati Tourist Office organises guided tours of the old town and its history. The tours begin at the Sancti Spiritus University and San Miguel Church and lead through the town’s most important streets and palaces.

The tour thus connects two prominent starting points with the town’s historic network of routes. The Sancti Spiritus University and San Miguel mark the beginning, while the streets and palaces shape the further course. The old town therefore appears not merely as a collection of individual buildings, but as a cohesive historic monument ensemble.

The University of Oñati is considered an outstanding example of Renaissance civil architecture in the Basque Country. It was founded in 1548. For more than three centuries, it primarily offered studies in law, medicine, philosophy, theology and literature. Its history is therefore connected with several long-established fields of knowledge that were explicitly combined in the study programme of the time.

At the university, architectural and educational history can be viewed together: the building represents Renaissance civil architecture, while its foundation in 1548 and the study programme maintained for more than three centuries mark its long history of use. Law, medicine, philosophy, theology and literature are explicitly among the fields of study passed down from that period.

The Church of San Miguel Arcángel is a 15th-century building constructed on top of an older structure. It includes a Flamboyant Gothic cloister built over the Ubao stream. The Chapel of La Piedad contains a Renaissance altarpiece considered one of the finest in the Basque Country.

San Miguel brings together several historical layers. The present 15th-century building was constructed over an older structure; the Flamboyant Gothic cloister crosses the Ubao stream, while the Renaissance altarpiece in the Chapel of La Piedad adds another art-historical highlight.

Nature and the Underworld

Aizkorri-Aratz Nature Park is protected both as a nature park and as a Special Area of Conservation (ZEC). The hiking trails from Oñati offer routes for all levels of difficulty. They include an adapted route in Gomiztegi, meaning that this explicitly adapted option is mentioned alongside the trails with their varying levels of difficulty.

The description of nature also remains specific: Aizkorri-Aratz’s protection status includes two designations, while Gomiztegi complements the hiking trails of varying difficulty with an adapted route.

Arrikrutz Cave extends over 15 kilometres of interconnected underground galleries. It has yielded remarkable prehistoric animal remains. The guided tour of the cave follows a floating walkway and uses modern dynamic lighting.

In Arrikrutz, long underground connections and prehistoric animal remains meet a tour featuring a floating walkway and modern dynamic lighting. The 15 kilometres of interconnected galleries give the cave a clearly defined spatial extent.

Trails

The Arantzazu Sanctuary is open every day all year round. Guided tours can also be reserved. The second stage of the Ignatian Way can be divided into two sections for travellers on foot or by bicycle. The route to the Arantzazu Sanctuary leads through Oñati.

Arantzazu thus combines daily opening throughout the year with reservable guided tours. On the second stage of the Ignatian Way, it is also possible to divide the route into two sections, with the route to the sanctuary leading through Oñati and able to be completed on foot or by bicycle.

For the overarching travel overview: Gipuzkoa.

More destinations

More places in the same destination:

Zaldivia, Mondragón, Lezo, Lasarte-Oria, Tolosa, Deba, Villabona.