Onati and Arantzazu

Onati held the only university in the Basque Country from 1543 to 1901, and the Sancti Spiritus building survives with a plateresque facade and a courtyard, alongside a Gothic church and baroque town houses. Nine kilometres above, at 750 metres below a limestone cliff, stands the sanctuary of Arantzazu, rebuilt from 1950 by a group of young architects and artists including Saenz de Oiza, Laorga, Jorge Oteiza and Eduardo Chillida; the result, with a facade of pyramidal stone spikes, a Basque-language liturgy and Oteiza's apostle figures, was so far from expectation that the Vatican halted work and the sculptures lay in a ditch for fourteen years before being installed. It is now regarded as a landmark of twentieth-century Spanish art.

What you actually see

• The Arantzazu facade - pyramidal stone spikes on a 1950s basilica.
• The Oteiza apostles - sculptures rejected, stored for years, then installed.
• The Chillida doors - iron doors by the sculptor at the entrance.
• Sancti Spiritus - a plateresque Renaissance university building in Onati.

When to go

April to June and September to November; the road up to Arantzazu can be difficult in winter snow. The sanctuary is free and open daily; university visits are guided at set times.

Honest expectations

The road to Arantzazu is narrow and winding with limited parking. The sanctuary is an active Franciscan house with services closing it periodically. The architecture is uncompromising and divides visitors.

Nearby

The Aizkorri-Aratz park rises above; Bergara and the Deba valley lie north.