Do you want to take a route to see the remains of Bilbao’s industrial era? Bilbao, the industrial city converted into a modern European capital, offers you its memories.
We must not forget Bilbao’s past, a dark past, like many of the minerals that were obtained in the mines that surrounded the urban center of Bilbao. These mines were the ones that made Bilbao grow, a city with a very strong economy that had as its basic pillars the mining industry and everything that surrounded this sector. Today, Bilbao is being reconverted, that gray city that we knew has disappeared giving way to a totally different city, a city with a lot of light, with a lot of color, a European city, modern, but with a lot of tradition. We must keep in mind that past that made possible that Bilbao is today the city that it is, that is why we propose you to make the “industrial route of Bilbao”, a tourist route that we have designed for all those who want to get an idea of what in the past was the Great Bilbao.
Do you want to know which is the industrial route of Bilbao?
The industrial heritage of the Basque Country is an asset of cultural interest. In recent years, many industrial buildings and emblematic elements have been eliminated from our towns and villages to make way for new buildings. In view of this latest process of extermination of our industrial heritage, the Basque Association of Industrial Heritage and Public Works was formed in 1984. Many of these elements are the testimony of our history, the industrial history of the Basque Country and Bilbao, let’s talk about them:
The route can start in the center of Bilbao or on the outskirts, we recommend the car as ideal transport to move from the center of Bilbao to the grove, in the center of Bilbao we will find the first 3 points (the Carola crane, the entrance to the mine of San Luis and the chimney of the park etxebarria) and on the outskirts about 30 minutes the grove a natural environment with lots of history and gastronomy, the beans of the grove are famous throughout Bizkaia.
The Carola crane and the pump house: Today they are part of the Ría de Bilbao Maritime Museum. To get an idea of what this crane means for the town of Bilbao, we must take into account its history. Where the famous Euskalduna Palace is located today, in the past the Euskalduna shipyards were located, this crane was used for the construction of ships of these shipyards.
The Carola crane has a height of 60 meters, a weight of 30 tons and dates from 1957, at this time the Carola crane was one of the most powerful cranes that existed. In the past we could find many cranes of this type located along the Bilbao estuary, today this is the only crane that exists that was used for shipbuilding.
The name of the crane comes from a romantic story of the time. During the years when the crane was in operation, a woman from Deusto crossed the estuary every day to go to her job. The woman was so beautiful that all the workers admired her, thus neglecting the tasks they performed in the shipyards. The manager of the Euskalduna shipyards, alarmed by the delays caused, offered to take this woman every day to her place of work by car, which she did not accept. This woman’s name was Carola, which is the reason for the name of the most famous crane in Bilbao.
Carola crane
The Miribilla mines and the surroundings of the Bilbao estuary: At the end of the 19th century, mining activity in Bilbao increased considerably, causing the growth and transformation of the areas adjacent to the mines of San Luis, Abandonada and Malaespera. These mines ceased to be exploited in the 1970s. Today the galleries that once served to transport the ore to the surface are still under this area of Bilbao, although only one of them is accessible, a gallery from the San Luis mine. If you have special interest in it, we can tell you that it linked the Marzana dock with the mining area of San Luis, unfortunately this section is not open to the public. At low tide of the estuary, you can see the structure of a building loading ore.
Bilbao apple dock
The chimney of the park of the etxebarria park: In this park located in the Bilbao neighborhood of Santutxu existed more than 20 years ago a steel foundry, as a symbol of that foundry is preserved today, the chimney. In this emblematic park of Bilbao are usually placed the barracks in the big week of Bilbao, and it is usually a typical place where the people of Bilbao see the fireworks of the festivities of Bilbao.
Etxebarria park fireplace
The mining wagons in the grove: The grove is the mining area of Bizkaia par excellence in this area we can appreciate the open pit mines that were exploited on this ground, as well as ore wagons in one of its main traffic circles. A privileged environment to enjoy nature and at the same time understand the mining past of Bilbao.
It is a pity not to have an element that determines the situation of a great company as it was, altos hornos de Vizcaya, located where today is located the BEC, (Bilbao Exhibition Centre, headquarters of the Bilbao Trade Fair), or many other emblems of the industrialization of Bilbao.
Here is a video for you to appreciate the beauty of the city:
These are just some of the thousands of “historical memories” that we can find in the city of Bilbao, if you want any more just leave us a comment in this article.
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