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Discover the route of the murals of Vitoria Gasteiz, an artistic walk, which leads us through some of the most surprising corners of the capital of Alava.
The route of the murals of Vitoria Gasteiz, officially known as Itinerario Muralistico de Vitoria Gasteiz (IMVG), offers us the possibility to enter the historic center of the city in search of authentic works of urban art. For us, each mural, each brushstroke, has served us to learn a little more about this incredible city, while, at the same time, it has served us as a perfect excuse to walk, once again, every corner and street of its urban center. The murals that we found scattered throughout the streets, respond, according to those responsible for this project, to the social need to have a tool through which to express public and community opinion. Although the knowledge and passion of its leaders (Christina Werckmeister, Veronica Werckmeister and Brenan Duarte) have been essential to carry out each of the IMVG projects, without the involvement of citizens, this movement would not be possible, it would not make sense. In this article, we are only going to talk about the murals developed in Vitoria Gasteiz, but this movement does not stop at the limits of the capital of Alava, Bilbao and many Basque towns are already part of its curious collection.
Information about the route of the murals of Vitoria Gasteiz.
- Name: Mural Itinerary of Vitoria Gasteiz (IMVG)
- Prices: Free visit, guided visit 6€.
- Attractions: Architecture, history and culture. Tour through the center of Vitoria Gasteiz with an extra attraction.
- Phone: 647 629 300
- Route: Historical Center and Zaramaga neighborhood.
The murals of Gasteiz have become, by their own merits, one more attraction of the city, a collective movement, with which all the people of Gasteiz feel identified. Before 2007, before the murals of the Muralistico de Vitoria Gasteiz itinerary flooded the city, no one had any idea of the magnitude that this project would take in the future. Today, more than 11 years later, this small open-air museum has managed to become one of the most visited attractions in Vitoria Gasteiz, almost nothing!
Route of the murals of Vitoria Gasteiz, the painted city.
The Old Town of Gasteiz, the Medieval Almond, a conglomerate of narrow streets and cantons, has been filled with life and color, lots of color. And it is that, thanks to Christina Werckmeister, Verónica Werckmeister, Brenan Duarte and hundreds of anonymous artists, we can say that a new travel companion has been added to the medieval wall, the Bibat museum, the Escoriaza Esquivel Palace, the old cathedral and the rest of attractions that the Old Town of Vitoria Gasteiz keeps. A great effort, which has given life to more than 16 facades of the urban center.
Route of the murals: The murals of Vitoria Gasteiz merge with the urban architecture giving the city a great artistic labyrinth. An attraction, which attracts and encourages visitors to walk through the city center looking for the murals as if they were small hidden treasures. Although it may seem logical to follow the order stipulated on the official website of the Mural Itinerary, we recommend you not to follow it. If you have time and the desire to have fun, the best option is usually to get lost among the cantons and streets to play to see who discovers the most murals. A small exercise, with which couples, families and groups enjoy together, without cell phones, as in the past, this new urban place of Araba. Of course, GPS and cell phones are not allowed, no cheating!
We must emphasize that the order mentioned on the Mural Itinerary page is not by location, but by year of creation. Many times, following this order is not the best option. Getting lost among the streets and discovering the murals without expecting it, makes the route of the murals of Vitoria Gasteiz gain many points.
The great collection of murals that we find in the capital of Alava, currently, in 2018, has 16 paintings to which will soon be added a few more accounts. Here is the totality of the paintings that make up the route of the murals of Vitoria Gasteiz:
- Name: Al hilo del Tiempo.
- Year of creation: 2007.
- Surface area: 225 m2.
- Location: Kale Txikitxoa, 9.
- Description: Al hilo del tiempo is the mural with which this beautiful artistic movement began. Its title is due to the history of the square where it is located, a space where in medieval times a market of fabrics and cloths was located. It took more than 13 people and more than 6 weeks to create it.
- Name: Continents.
- Year of creation: 2008
- Surface area: A whole building. The 4 facades and all the elements that make up the nursery school and foster home.
- Location: Santa María kantoia with San Vicente de Paul kalea.
- Description: In this case, the creation of the mural was accompanied by a series of necessary structural arrangements in the building. The animals from all continents present in the mural reflect the reality of the neighborhood in which it is located, a neighborhood in which people from different cultures and ethnicities coexist. At the same time, the great colorfulness present in the painting, helps, and a lot, to make this nursery school a cheerful space that invites to come in.
- Name: El Triunfo de Vitoria.
- Year of creation: 2009
- Surface area: 225 m2.
- Location: Santa Maria Kalea, 9.
- Description: This medieval mural created by more than 16 volunteers during 6 weeks, hides a metaphor in which the corrupt power, the people and Vitoria are represented by 1 man and 2 women respectively. This scene, inspired by the work of art “The Cheat” by Georges de la Tour, shows us a card game in which, although the corrupt power tries to cheat (the man), the people (the maid) helps the lady not to fall into the trap. A mural, with great color strength that attracts us to look at it for minutes. One of the ones we like the most.
- Name: Sky and stars cutlery.
- Year of creation: 2009
- Surface area: 225 m2.
- Location: Santa Ana Kantoia with Pintore Kalea.
- Description: Based on the work of the painter Giotto di Bondone from the 14th century, it represents a love scene in which the sky and its elements take on great importance together with the protagonist couple.
- Name: The shortest night.
- Year of creation: 2010
- Surface area: 180 m2.
- Location: 96 Correría Street
- Description: In the upper part of the historic center, located in the garden of the medieval wall, we find this mural in which the night of San Juan is represented by the magic of the night, the dances and the bonfires that revolve around it. This is one of the most difficult murals to access since it is protected by the walls of the old medieval wall of the city.
- Name: Eskuz esku, Blacksmith.
- Year of creation: 2010
- Surface area: 130 m2.
- Location: Calle Herrería 86.
- Description: In this location, we find 3 murals in 1. And is that, in this canton, we find the facade of 2 buildings fully decorated with a complex work of art. The painting is divided into 3 different murals: the left facade, the right facade and the lower part, which, shared by both, is the link between the two works. Let’s focus on the right façade. The hand is the tool from which the work arises in most cases, a fact that is reflected in the name of the mural, eskuz esku (hand to hand in Basque). In this case, the hand that we find painted on the mural represents the work done on the land, symbolizing the urban orchards that exist in the Old Town of Vitoria Gasteiz.
- Name: Eskuz Esku, Mosaic.
- Year of creation: 2010
- Surface area: 50 m2.
- Location: Calle Herrería 86, Zapatería 79.
- Description: As we have indicated previously, although in this location there are 3 murals, in this occasion, we are going to focus on the lower mural, the one that joins the other two. A mosaic, in which texts in a multitude of languages are appreciated, on different materials (ceramics, mirrors and vitrogres).
- Name: Eskuz esku, shoe store
- Year of creation: 2010
- Surface area: 150 m2.
- Location: Calle Zapatería, 79.
- Description: As we have mentioned in the other 2 murals that make up this work of art, the hand represents the tool that shapes, in most cases, the work done. Thus, in this mural, we find a strong nod to culture and music, once again with the hand as the protagonist.
- Name: What shall we do with what we know?
- Year of creation: 2011
- Surface area: 150 m2
- Location: Colegio de San Prudencio Street
- Description: This mural is closely linked to the Green Capital award received by the capital of Alava in 2012. A painting that tries to provoke and ask anyone who sees it about the nature that surrounds us and our methods of conservation, will we be able to save the planet? will we destroy the planet? An action, which is represented by plants and books on one of the facades surrounding the Museum of Contemporary Art Artium.
- Name: The Light of Hope
- Year of creation: 2011
- Surface area: 225 m2
- Location: Zapatería Street, 76.
- Description: Divided into two spaces easily recognizable by their tones (hot/cold), this mural warns us about stereotypes and inequality through the word Berdintasuna (equality in Basque) and a perfectly balanced scale. Meanwhile, a beautiful amama (grandmother in Basque) appears on the upper left representing people fleeing oppression. In short, this mural represents the fundamental role of women in the hard work of maintaining peace and equality.
- Name: We are Water / We are Art
- Year of creation: 2011
- Surface area: 200 m2
- Location: Aldabe Civic Center
- Description: This mural located next to the swimming pool and Civic Center of Aldabe, transmits us the importance of water in the world, a necessary element for survival, which is often not given the importance it really has. From this base, arises the painting that we find, in it, a lamia (Basque mythological being) part as the protagonist of the mural, while around this figure we find several animals in danger of extinction.
- Name: Erase una vez el voluntariado.
- Year of creation: 2012
- Surface area: 80 m2
- Location: Calle Barrancal 20
- Description: This mural is a tribute to the people who, voluntarily, have made possible the transformation of the urban landscape of Vitoria Gasteiz. In it, you can see a large book in which the whole process of creating these murals is graphically collected, from the previous research and brainstorming, until the last brushstroke.
- Name: No present or future without memory
- Year of creation: 2013
- Surface area: 210 m2
- Location: Reyes de Navarra, 28
- Description: This was the first mural in the Zaramaga neighborhood. An important milestone in the life of the route of the murals of Vitoria Gasteiz, because it had never before left the historic center. The theme of this mural is the events that took place on March 3, 1976 in Vitoria Gasteiz. On this day, 5 workers were killed and more than 100 wounded. All this, as a result of the force used by the police (guns and gas), to try to prevent the assembly of workers that was taking place in the church of San Francisco (building that is in front of the mural) to take place. An event that today, after more than 37 years, still has no official recognition. The mural occupies one of the facades of the towers of the Zaramaga neighborhood, where you can see the struggle of the working class to obtain decent conditions and the course of history since that event.
- Name: On the Ridge of the Wrinkle
- Year of creation: 2014-2015
- Surface area: 120 m2
- Location: Calle Mendoza 59
- Description: Older people are the protagonists of this mural where you can clearly see an aitite (grandfather in Basque) kissing another. Two people who have spent their whole lives in this neighborhood of Gasteiztar. A little wink to how this neighborhood of workers is aging, where young people from other provinces came called by the job offer in the industry. Today, the panorama has changed, but it is still a neighborhood of workers in which in addition to the existing ones, young people from other countries have joined them.
- Name: El Lince de Zaramaga.
- Year of creation: 2015
- Surface area: 89 m2
- Location: Calle Reyes de Navarra 27.
- Description: The color, joy and beauty of this mural vindicate the need to recover the biodiversity that once existed, a fact, which is represented by means of several animals, to highlight the large lynx that acts as the protagonist.
- Name: You Are Here
- Year of creation: 2016
- Surface area: 120 m2
- Location: Calle Mendoza 1
- Description: In our opinion one of the most complex and elaborate murals. In it, the artists and volunteers of the Zaramaga neighborhood have wanted to print everything that migration entails, a small tribute to the people who abandoned everything to look for a better place for their children. In this case, this neighborhood of Vitoria Gasteiz. We loved how they have used 2 of the most colorful elements of the mural, on the one hand the typical print of the papers with which the walls of the houses were wrapped at that time, alluding to the warmth of home, while the wheels, the recycled tires that protrude from the facade, represent the journey made. From a distance, everyone who visits it likes it very much, and from close up it is surprising to see how on the wall, in the same tones but different colors, the surnames of the people of the neighborhood can be seen in different calligraphies, different origins, different cultures that come together in Zaramaga.
Location: The Old Town and the Zaramaga neighborhood, host at present, year 2018, all the works of art that are toured during the route of murals of Vitoria Gasteiz. The first of them, the Old Town, declared a Monumental Site in 1997, owes part of its charm to its medieval structure, the so-called Medieval Almond. A space with a lot of charm in which palaces, houses, towers and walls make us fall in love as we pass by.
Why is the Historical Center of Vitoria Gasteiz called Medieval Almond? Simple, it is due to its shape, and is that, if we look from the sky this urban center, we can see that its shape is very similar to that of an almond.
The other area, the Zaramaga neighborhood, less attractive, more residential and less central, provides the experiences of a working class neighborhood full of anecdotes and stories.
History: The origin of the Itinerario Muralistico de Vitoria Gasteiz (IMVG) dates back to 2007, the year in which the project started and since then more than 16 public mural workshops have been developed between the Old Town of Gasteiz and the Zaramaga neighborhood. Its leaders, Christina Werckmeister, Verónica Werckmeister and Brenan Duarte have made a project a reality that, in addition to providing the city with an additional attraction, has also contributed to creating participatory experiences for all kinds of people.
Design and production, creation: Giving life to the murals that we present today is not a matter of hours, it is not a matter of days, it is an arduous task that in many occasions exceeds 6 weeks. This work follows 3 different phases: design, production and inauguration. We must take into account that all this work is carried out by volunteers of any age, profession and origin, a mixture of the most plural.
- Design: Before painting anything, meetings take place where each of the minds present there launches a series of ideas, facts and anecdotes that are worked on to determine what will end up being a first sketch. A first base of the painting on a natural scale.
- Production: Guided by the artists who direct and assist the work, the so-called “brigades of the brotxa” work in shifts to implement on the facades the sketch created in the design phase. These volunteers have flexible schedules in which a minimum involvement is usually requested (about 10 hours a week).
- Inauguration: At the end of the mural, a small inauguration takes place in which the volunteers receive a document accrediting their contribution, a DVD with photos and videos taken throughout the process and an IMVG T-shirt, small souvenirs for a great achievement.
Murals: Although in this article we highlight only the existing paintings in the IMVG, there are many others, among them, the murals of Maldanbera fest, a cultural festival that sneaks year after year in the programming of the city.
Guided tours: The route of the murals of Vitoria Gasteiz can be done on our own or through the guided tour offered by their creators. Although we did it on our own, at our own pace, we are sure that the anecdotes and experiences lived during the creation of these gigantic works of art together with the artistic knowledge of the people who create them, add even more value to this curious visit to the historic center of the capital of Alava. That said, we leave you more information about the guided tours of the IMVG. If you want to know more information about the rest of the guided tours in the city, we recommend you to read our article about guided tours in Vitoria Gasteiz.
- Description: Behind each mural, each workshop, there are certain secrets that only the people involved in its creation know. People who, in addition to showing their creations, can answer any questions about the city and its surroundings. A unique opportunity to discover in first person the meaning, history and secrets of each one of them.
- Price: 7€ adults. Children between 8 and 12 years old accompanied by an adult 3€, Children under 8 years old free. Reduced admission 5 € (retired, unemployed, disabled and students).
- Minimum group size: 6 people.
What to see in Vitoria GasteizIn addition to this incredible route of the murals of Vitoria Gasteiz, we encourage you to visit some of its many other charms, among which we highlight:
- New cathedral.
- Medieval fridge.
- Medieval wall.
- Salburua Park.
- Plaza de los Fueros.
- Market.
- Statue of the walker.
- Matxete Square.
- Florida Park (very special at Christmas time).
Where to eat: In Vitoria Gasteiz, as in the rest of Euskadi, you can eat wonderfully, an example of this are the restaurants Waska or Siete, two gastronomic establishments that we recommend without hesitation.
Where to sleep: The Jardines de Uleta Suites Hotel is our recommendation, located in a residential neighborhood and less than 10 minutes from downtown by bus, this 4-star hotel offers a guaranteed home in Vitoria Gasteiz.
It is nice to see how, thanks to projects such as the route of the murals of Vitoria Gasteiz, it is possible for a medieval city to reinvent itself while maintaining the history and culture of its ancestors and fusing it with new artistic movements. A fusion that attracts.
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