WHAT TO SEE
Miren Larrea – Route from the Puerto Viejo/Old Port in Getxo to San Nicolás Square
Photograph on loan from Getxoko Liburutegiak – Getxo Municipal Libraries
This route tells us about the relationship between the people of the Old Port and the sea, about the goings-on in a fishing village, and about how people come together to forge a community and resist the passage of time to preserve its soul as a traditional enclave within a larger town.
Miren Larrea had happy memories of her childhood. In those years, the Old Port was full of children playing in the streets. Our route today will take us through those places Miren looked back on so fondly. A walk that will lead us from the Old Port, with its colourful houses and flowers...up to the square, San Nicolás, beside the church of the same name.
MIREN LARREA (1922-2014)
Although she was born in Santurtzi, on the other side of the bay, Miren Larrea Aguirre’s heart belonged to the Old Port, where she lived and died. Her father was José Larrea del Hoyo, who hailed from Zierbena, also on the other side of the bay, and her mother was Josefa Aguirre Echevarría, from the Old Port itself, who sold fish up the river in Erandio.
Miren was the seventh of eight siblings, and she spent three years in exile with two of them in Donibane Garazi in the French Basque Country (Iparralde). Following that, she spent several years in domestic service in a house on Avenida Zugazarte, until 1951, when she married Bernardo Aguiriano Gurruchaga, who was actually from the Old Port.
A woman of substance and an engaging smile, she strived to improve the lives of others in her community. That spirit of cooperation and solidarity has survived to this day as a distinctive hallmark of this little corner of Getxo.
Through her poems and photos, the protagonist of this route has portrayed places in Getxo, and most especially the people living in the Old Port.
The book “Miren Larrea, Alma del Puerto" was published in 2013. As a self-taught photographer, she won numerous prizes. In addition, for years she observed and portrayed the lives of the people in her neighbourhood, compiling a major source of information on the Old Port.
1. Old Port, Portu Zaharra in Basque.
The steep terrain defines its picturesque appearance, with slopes and tiny houses piled up on top of each other. It was never a very big port, and in the 18th century it had only 10 fishing boats.
2. Plaza Asuarka.
There was once a little cave here, and it was used as a bomb-shelter during the Spanish Civil War, as well as a meeting place for local women, as it was also used as a wash house because there was a little spring here.
3. Erriberamune.
Vantage point from where one could monitor the state of the sea and the shipping heading upriver to Bilbao. There are now two sculptures standing here: Arrantzalea (the fisherman in Basque) and La Sardinera (The Sardine hawker), by Luis Iñiguez and José Luis Butrón, respectively.
4. Etxetxu (18th century).
It was built by Algorta’s Cofradía de Mareantes (Seafarers’ Guild) as a venue for their meetings. It once housed the Town Hall.
5. Square in the Old Port.
This is the only open space in this maze of narrow streets. It is also the perfect place to admire the small doors and windows that protected the occupants from the northwesterly wind.
6. Casa Sarrantxena (1796).
This house stands on the site of the allotment belonging to its neighbour, Etxezarra. As the population in the Old Port grew, this became common practice.
7. Etxe Alai (1950).
The name of this house breaks with the tradition of calling the house after its owner. It means 'Happy house' in Basque.
8. Casa Tatoena (1829).
The new house still retains the original name: Tatoena in Basque means ‘the house of someone called Tato’.
9. Fountain of El Farol.
For a long time, this was the last part of the Old Port that was lit up, “from then on it was total darkness”, they used to say. The street lamp used to run on oil and paraffin until electricity was installed in 1895.
10. Former Chapel of San Nicolás de Bari (1634-1863).
Until the Etxetxu was built, the chapel of San Nicolás was where the fisherman met, as regular worship was not held there until 1785. One of Miren’s numerous projects for improving life in the neighbourhood involved finding somewhere for women in the Old Port to meet and carry out their activities. She found it here.
11. Calle San Nicolás.
This street may be considered the Old Port’s main thoroughfare, as it follows the highway that ran from the Old Port to the neighbourhood of Andra Mari. It was also the first street involved in the Old Port’s expansion.
12. Church of San Nicolás de Bari (1854, 1925, 1970).
As it was not possible to enlarge the chapel of San Nicolás, work began on the building of a new church designed by the architect Lorenzo Francisco de Muñiz. it is one of the few examples of the late Neo-Classical style in Bizkaia.
13. Muxikebarri (2019).
Getxo’s new Art, Culture and Conference Centre has been designed by Luis María Uriarte. It has three auditoriums, a multi-purpose conference hall, and four cafeterias, among other facilities.
14. Plaza San Nicolás.
It became Algorta’s main public space in the mid-19th century. Since 1989, the building that housed the first Town Hall is now the public library, which is where Miren Larrea’s photograph collection is kept.
15. San Martín Primary School (1879)
This school, designed for little girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, was the brainchild of Rosa Rogelia Cortina, who supervised both the purchase of the land and its subsequent building and management.
16. Church of La Trinidad (1888, 1929).
It was built as a church and convent for the Trinitarian order, with an initial design by the architect José Mª Basterra, and after it had been destroyed by fire it was again remodelled by Pedro Guimón. It is one of the most unusual buildings in Bizkaia from the first third of the 20th century.
17. Villa Hilario (1926)
This is an apartment building of the finest quality following a stately design with Neo-Basque features, the work of the architect Rafael de Garamendi.
18. Plaza Lehendakari Agirre.
In 1854, this was the site of the first local cemetery, which is why it is now referred to as the "Campa del muerto" [Field of the Dead]. This square now dedicated to the memory of José Antonio de Agirre y Lekube, the first president or Lehendakari of the Basque Government.
19. Casa San Martín (1830)
This is a popular-style house dating from the 19th century that together with other neighbouring buildings gives us an idea of what the area looked like at that time.
20. Casa Menchaca barri (1830, 1942, 2013).
A building of Neo-Classicist inspiration, built for a seafaring family during the time the Old Port was expanding up into Algorta. It has been refurbished on several occasions.
21. Villa Luisa (1902, 2000).
It is famous for being the family home of the Basque tenor Florencio Constantino Carral, his wife Luisa Arrigorriaga Larrazabal, and their children.
22. Villa (1904, 2018).
With an original initial design by the architect Fidel Iturria, it is one of the few clearly eclectic buildings that retains its -more or less- original appearance in this area.
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