The Santimamiñe caves, the protectors of works of art more than 13,000 years old
The caves of Santimamiñe are considered since 2008 as part of the cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco. The caves have a great archaeological value while its environment has an incomparable beauty, these two points are the 2 most important reasons to visit the caves of Santimamiñe, a must visit in the province of Bizkaia, Basque Country.
Location: Santimamiñe caves are located in the Biscayan town of Cortezubi (Kortezubi in Basque), near this Biscayan municipality we can find the Biosphere Reserve of Urdabai and the Oma Forest, two magical places, unique, with a great environmental value that we recommend visiting taking advantage of the proximity to the caves of santimamiñe.
Kortezubi has an extension of 11’9 km and in 2010 had a population of 419 inhabitants. The name Kortezubi comes from two Basque words, korte and zubi. Zubi means bridge and korte is believed to be a derivative of korta, a word that means stable or stable, so we can say that this name means: “the stable or stable of the bridge”. Cortezubi (Kortezubi) is a magnificent place for hiking or routes of all kinds, routes that we will undoubtedly talk about in future articles, stay tuned.
visit urdaibai
The caves: The caves of Santimamiñe are the most important caves in Bizkaia together with the Pozalagua caves, in them, we can find paintings dating from 13,000 years before Christ, paintings that reveal our history and that of our people. Thanks to these paintings, today we can affirm that there were already human settlements in Bizkaia. The cave paintings that we can find in Santimamiñe belong to the Upper Paleolithic period, a period from which it is not very common to find paintings of this type and in this state of preservation.
These caves were discovered in the early twentieth century, specifically in 1916 when a group of teenagers went into them in search of adventure, but what they found was much more than a simple adventure, they found part of our history, they found the paintings of the caves of Santimamiñe. When they left the cave, the teenagers communicated the discovery to their teacher and the teacher communicated it to others, until they reached the Provincial Council of Bizkaia. The Provincial Council decided to study this archaeological discovery and open it to the public so that they could enjoy our history.
Caves of Santimamiñe
The first archaeological excavations of the Santimamiñe caves began in 1918 and continued until 1964, excavations led by a team composed of Telesforo Aranzadi, José Miguel de Barandiarán and E. Eguren, three great experts in history and other branches of science. One of the most important science associations in the Basque Country, the Aranzadi Science Society, is named after Telesforo Aranzadi, one of the members of this team.
The Santimamiñe caves are made up of some 50 paintings of which the following figures stand out:
A bear
Thirty-two bison
A deer
Six horses
Seven capridae (usually known as wild goats or feral goats, although they have characteristics that these do not possess and encompass nine subspecies).
And the rest of the drawings or paintings are paintings that are not classified because they are incomplete or in poor condition.
All these paintings are distributed along 3 zones of the caves of Santimamiñe, the zone before the chamber of the paintings, the sanctuary and the chamber of the paintings. In addition to these artistic works made by man millions of years ago, we can find countless works of art created little by little by nature, the so-called “stalactites” and “stalagmites” some of them about to join to form a “column”, shapes and paintings that await you in the caves of santimamiñe. What are you waiting for to visit them?
The visit: The visit to the caves of Santimamiñe lasts approximately an hour and a half, time in which we will enjoy a guided tour in which we will have the opportunity to see the environment of the caves of Santimamiñe, the hall of the cave and the projection room where we will make a 3D virtual tour of the cave. Unfortunately today it is impossible to visit the areas where the paintings are located, these areas are being protected from visitors to prevent their deterioration.
Bust of Jose Miguel de Barandiaran in the cave of Santimamine
The price of the visits is 5 € for adults while children under 6 years old do not pay for the visit. Groups of more than 10 people are eligible for a group price of €3 and reduced admission is €2.
The great beauty of the Santimamiñe caves has meant that during the years of their opening they have received countless visits that have helped the deterioration of the caves. The human impact caused the microclimate of the caves to change, causing them to deteriorate, so it was decided to limit access to the caves. Today, it is not possible to enjoy the areas where the paintings are located, but we can enjoy the great work of the Department of Culture of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia: “Santimamiñe, an ancient landscape” which allows us to make a 3D virtual tour of the caves, an excellent work with which we will have the feeling of being inside them.
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