Do you want to know first hand everything related to the life and work of Basque fishermen?
Visit the fisherman’s museum!
This museum dedicated to Basque fishermen is one of the few museums in the world dedicated to the way of life, work and customs of fishermen. Fishing is a sector in low times, but in the Basque Country we are recovering our history, our memories, to keep alive this way of life in which we were once world leaders.
Located in one of the most traditional fishing towns in Bizkaia (Bermeo), and nestled in the Biosphere Reserve of Urdaibai, we have the opportunity to visit the fisherman’s museum while enjoying the surroundings.
Arrantzaleen museoa, as this museum on the Biscayan coast is popularly known, means fishermen’s museum in Basque.
Port of Bermeo
A perfect plan to spend the day with the family, a plan suitable for children and adults that will not disappoint you. Are you up for it?
In this museum we can discover the customs of the Basque fishermen (arrantzales), the organization of the guilds around this sector, the techniques they used, the most fished species, the boats they used and of course, the history of Bermeo and the Ercilla tower, building in which the museum of the fisherman of the Basque Country is located.
Port of Bermeo with fog
In order for you to appreciate the beauty of the plan we propose, here are the 5 most outstanding charms of our visit to the fisherman’s museum:
–Surroundings: Near the fisherman’s museum we can enjoy typical urban centers of the Basque Country as Bermeo, Elantxobe or Ea, all of them in the heart of the Biosphere Reserve of Urdaibai. And also natural environments of great value as San Juan de Gaztelugatxe or Urdaibai marshes and its Bird center.
As you can see, the natural environment surrounding this town and the charm of the old town of Bermeo make a visit to this museum much more attractive.
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe at sunset
–The Fisherman’s Museum: Inside the museum, we will find 4 floors about fishing in the Basque Country. Each of them has a specific part of the maritime history of our people.
First floor:
- -Coast and ports
- -Ethnography
- -Barrileria
- -Cordelería
- -Commerce, industry and transportation
- -Fishermen’s guilds
- -Reception
Second floor:
- -Origins of fishing
- -Traditional fishing
- -Marisqueo
- -Fixed networks
- -Hooks and hooks
- -Drifting arts
- -Fence arts
- -Trawl nets
- -Netting and rigging
- -Fisherman’s loaves
Second floor:
- -Shipbuilding
- -Navigation instruments
- -The Tower of Ercilla
- -Assembly hall
- -Captain’s mate
Third floor:
- A-Library
B-Temporary exhibition hall
Discover them and tell us which one you like the most!
Do not miss the opportunity to admire the beautiful views that can be seen from one of its many windows. This museum will help us to understand many of the customs of the Basque culture, among them the famous Basque traineras. Do you know them?
Model at the fisherman’s museum
–The location: Located at the top of the port of Bermeo, we find the Ercilla Tower, a building declared a National Monument where the fisherman’s museum has been located since 1948.
Tower of Ercilla seen from the port of Bermeo
–Gastronomy: Located on the Basque coast, Bermeo provides us with a traditional and high quality Basque gastronomy. On this occasion we recommend leaving aside the pintxos, and opt for a good fish or if you prefer a good txuleton (although being in Bermeo I would opt for the first of the dishes without a doubt). In the upper part of the port, near the church you will find restaurants that will not disappoint you.
Fish of the day, turbot loin
– Han datoz!!!‘: “Han datoz” is a sculpture in honor of the Basque fishermen and their families, a sculpture that transmits to the visitor the anxiety and fear of the fishermen’s families for not seeing their men alive again. “Han datoz” means in Basque “there they come” title that faithfully accompanies the sculpture it represents.
Han datoz!, Monument to the fishermen and their families, Bermeo
The entrance to the fisherman’s museum has a general price of 3 €, an affordable price, with good value for money, remember that on Mondays the museum is closed.
This fisherman’s museum is, together with Albaola, the living memory of the most important way of life in the Basque Country in the 16th century. Two different ways of showing how people lived and worked at sea, two ways that complement each other wonderfully, visit them!
If what you want is to know the ins and outs of a more modern Basque fishing boat, you can visit the fishing boat Agurtza in Santurtzi, a fishing boat converted into a fishing interpretation center through which we will know the smallest details of modern Basque fishing.
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