Blanka Gómez de Segura, opens the doors of her home, the Basque Pottery Museum.

Next to the road that joins the towns of Ubide and Legutio, in Alava, we found an oven attached to a baserri (Basque farmhouse), a very rare set in our land, a unique and special building that we had never seen before, a real jewel of our history.

This architectural heritage has been preserved in perfect condition thanks to this personal initiative, a project without subsidy, which survives thanks to the passion of Blanka, its owner, for the history and culture of her people, because what makes a town different? What is a town without its culture and history? Let’s think about it.

The town of Elosu and its Ollerías neighborhood are home to this museum, small and without great boasts, but practical and efficient, characteristics that it shares with the pottery pieces of the Basque people, simple but elegant. Do you want to know why Blanka and the Basque Pottery Museum have obtained our exclusive “TurismoVasco Tiketa” accreditation? Pay attention to our argumentation.

Kiln: Merged with the baserri that houses the Basque Pottery Museum, we find one of the oldest kilns in Euskal Herria and one of the few still standing. A unique space where you can contemplate the structure of the kilns that once occupied part of our land. This traditional oven of quadrangular plant and 9 meters of height (nowadays in disuse) has a capacity of 8.000 pieces, pieces piled up one on top of the other that occupied completely the interior space of the oven. In 1958 this colossus, which is part of the General Inventory of Basque Cultural Heritage, made its last batch.

History: The museum is located in a 1711 pottery, building where the family of potters Ortiz de Zarate made their pieces until 1958 when the Urrunaga reservoir was built (a few meters from the museum) completely flooding the land from which the last of the Ortiz de Zarate family, Jose, obtained his clay. Jose’s legacy has fallen into good hands, and Blanka, his apprentice, continues to promote this art, nowadays almost extinct, with great passion and character. A long history, more than 1,000 years, same location, same task, same technique. History awaits you in Ollerías, the Basque Pottery Museum awaits you.

Building: The building, the pottery and its oven, were restored and opened to the public in 1993, a very ambitious project of integral recovery that is still going on (which is no small feat) with hardly any help.

Museum: The Basque Pottery Museum is located on the second floor of the building, a collection owned by the Basque Country in which we can appreciate the uses of pottery in the daily life of the Basque people. The museum contains more than 380 pieces ranging from the sixteenth century to the present day, a nice journey through time in which we can appreciate how essential were the ceramic pieces until just 70 years ago. We still keep at home some of these wonders handmade with great precision, unique pieces that came out of some pottery as Blanka.

Location: The Basque Pottery Museum is located in an unparalleled natural environment, between the Urkiola and Gorbeia Natural Parks, on the banks of the Urrunaga reservoir, in Alava- Araba, on the border with the province of Bizkaia.

Affordable distances for any getaway from our most important cities.

Porcelain and its uses: Ceramics have been used in the Basque Country and in the rest of the cultures of the world for an infinite number of uses. In the Museum of Basque Pottery we find pottery of all kinds:

Blanka: Blanka Gómez de Segura, a native of the Biscayan town of Markina, master potter of Ollerías and head of the Basque Pottery Museum, is a woman full of passion and strength who more than 25 years ago decided to learn a trade in which there were only men. This woman, ahead of her time, has managed to impose herself in a trade in which, unfortunately, women were banned. Struggle, work, success.

Workshop: The most dynamic space in the museum, a space where hours pass as if they were seconds. Blanka’s hands shape all kinds of pieces with ease, and everything seems easy in the hands of this master potter, experience is a degree. It is here, in the workshop, where Blanka kneads and shapes the clay before firing it at temperatures close to 1,000 degrees. After firing, Blanka gives her pieces that white glaze so typical of the Basque Country. When finished, all the pieces are offered for sale. We were left with the desire to stain our hands, to try to simulate this great Basque artist, a pity, no doubt it would have been the end of an incredible visit.

Store: The store of the Museum of Basque Pottery brings together a small but varied selection of typical pieces of our land, including the typical “katilus” (bowls), simple but elegant, a very nice object to remember our trip to the Basque Country, a souvenir of quality, authentic, historical and cheap (6 €). They also make pieces to order, forget about industrially made pieces, enjoy the traditional, unique pieces, ask for prices!

Blanka Gomez de Segura, a feisty woman at the head of the Basque Pottery Museum, a unique and impressive museum for all those who know how to appreciate the history and culture of a people.