The Basque Country (Euskadi in Basque) is easily one of the most unique regions of Spain.

The Basque people were Basque long before Spain was Spanish, and having never identified as being Spanish the Basque language and culture is still as much in tact as ever.

Doors to Iglesia Santa María in Gernika

Iglesia Santa María - and our cute little rental car!

I’d visited Euskadi before, but I wanted to know so much more before I visited again, so I read “The Basque History of the World” by Mark Kurlansky for a more “Basque-sympathizing” point of view.

Not my image; taken from Google Image search.

At times it could be a tough read. Non-fiction is my genre of choice, but sometimes straight facts can be too direct to enjoy. Despite the slumps in my reading habits with non-fiction, my excitement to revisit the Basque Country spiked after reading this book. Not to mention, it gave us new ideas for stops along our road trip from Bilbao to San Sebastián.

Map of "downtown" Gernika. Sorry for the glare :/

Foru Plaza

Statue of Conde don Tello

One highly culturally important and symbolic place for Euskadi that we would have missed if it wasn’t for this book was the town of Gernika (Guernica in Spanish). You may know the name from Pablo Picasso’s famous mural-sized oil painting Guernica, a representation of the day back in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War when the Nazis ruthlessly and systematically bombed the town for hours in an effort to demoralize the Basque resistance on behalf of Franco’s Nationalists.

The eye-witness accounts of that day are harrowing.

Seeing the mural in person, in Gernika, was a sobering experience. The town itself is pretty quiet, so walking there from the car only a few blocks we already started to feel it. To our right were residential buildings, casual bars, pharmacies, etc. To our left was a stone wall running the length of the road, behind it more residences on an upward sloping hill. Then, quite suddenly, laid into the stone wall was the mural, not much around it to indicate that it was there other than the mural itself and a set of benches across the road.

Picasso's "Guernica"

Few escaped the bombings of 1937 with their lives, but one culturally important survivor of that day was the Gernikako Arbola (the Guernica Tree). This tree has been the site of numerous treaties, lawmakings, oath-swearings, and pretty much every important event in the history of Basque autonomy.

The original Guernica Tree

[It’s important to note here that the Basques have experienced centuries of attempts at being overthrown, and while they are now part of Spain, they are certainly no less Basque and are very proud of it — and rightfully so.]

The Basques have even adopted their own font

Statue of José María Iparraguirre, a Basque poet and musician

The original tree lasted over 450 years, and since its death has been replanted a couple of times.

Replanted trees in the original location

We had a somewhat difficult time finding the tree based on what we’d read online, but after a bit of exploring finally came upon it by walking the small road that encircles the Casa de Juntas de Gernika. Unfortunately we were in a bit of a rush, so seeing the tree from behind the fence was slightly underwhelming, but knowing what it stood for and all those who had stood there with it in the pro-Basque efforts was an exhilarating feeling.

To many passers-by, the mural and the tree might have zero significance, but with a little bit of background in the local history one can quickly see that they are sites of tremendous significance. So while Gernika may be off many wanderers’ radars, it’s essential to understanding the Basques and their struggle, and certainly worth the stop.

Convento de Santa Clara Clarisas, near the Gernikako Arbola

Beautiful tiled street signs

Gernika was our next stop after visiting the Painted Forest of Oma on our way to San Sebastián from Bilbao. Here are some photos from that stop that we missed in our previous Painted Forest post.

There's that Basque font again

Trail marks -- we're on track!

Trail marks not leading to the Painted Forest

Hiking back through the Vally of Oma

Have you visited Gernika? Got any questions? Let us know in the comments below!

Seeing Picasso's Most Famous Piece "Guernica" in Guernica!