Santurtzi, what to see and do.

Promenade: The promenade of Santurtzi is one of the busiest places in the town. An ideal place to stretch your legs while enjoying the boats, the seagulls and the tranquility of the sea. Undoubtedly one of the most charming promenades of the town.

Sculpture Museum: Santurtzi has an open-air museum made up of more than a dozen sculptures. A museum, which allows us to know the different works of art of local and international artists while visiting this striking urban center.

Fishing port: Together with the construction of the breakwater and the outer harbor, the coast of Santurtzi changed completely. The area where today we find the fishermen’s guild, the fishing port or the sports center, was once one of the many strips of the Basque coast. It is, therefore, land reclaimed from the sea. In this sense, we must indicate that the fishing port that we find in Santurtzi, protected by the outer docks of the Bay of the Abra, allows the safe mooring of the last fishing boats of the town. And it is this picture, that of the fishing boats moored in the port, one of those that we like most of Santurtzi. Next to the port we will find the traditional fishing nets, the old hand crane or the fish market where the sale of fish takes place.

Fishermen’s Guild: Next to the fishing port we find the fishermen’s guild, a space that was restored in 2011 to house the fish market, the restaurant “El Hogar del Pescador”, the tourist office, the auction room and the Interpretation Center Santurtzi Itsas Museoa. We should point out that the first documents that mention the Santurtzi fishermen’s guild date back to 1846.

Virgen del Carmen: The Virgen del Carmen is the patron saint of Santurtzi since 1907. A fact that can be appreciated when visiting the fishing port of the town. And it is here where we find a statue of great volume that pays tribute to this virgin. Annually, every July 16, a maritime procession is held in which the fishermen embark with the image of the virgin until they reach the heart of the Abra Bay where a floral offering is made in honor of the deceased arrantzales (fishermen in Basque).

Marina: The marina of Santurtzi, one of the most important in Bizkaia along with Getxo, was inaugurated in 2005. Currently, this marina has more than 700 moorings, including the mooring of “El Saltillo”, the training ship of Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, the University of the Basque Country. This port also has a tourist jetty with 3 moorings for boats up to 30 meters in length. In order to use these moorings, vessels must be in transit and have a maximum planned stay of 48 hours in Santurtzi.

Oriol Palace: This palace built in 1902, is located on a hill from where you can see the sea, the fishing port and much of the promenade. A natural vantage point where we find this 19th century bourgeois style palace.

San Jorge Church: As we have already mentioned, the church of San Jorge, formerly a monastery, was one of the first buildings in Santurtzi. A structure, to which this town owes its name. Although this temple is of Romanesque origin, today no elements of that era are preserved. The only one that still remains is in the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art of Bilbao. You can contemplate a replica in the gardens surrounding the temple.

City Hall: Next to the church of San Jorge, the park and the palace Casa Torre, stands the city hall of Santurtzi. This building was built in 1905 by the same architect as the Fishermen’s Guild, Emiliano Pagazazaurtundua.

Mount Serantes: Mount Serantes is the most important mountain in Santurtzi and in the vicinity of the Bay of Abra. Undoubtedly an emblem of Bizkaia. Although it is only 451 meters high, this Basque mountain is an excellent viewpoint from which to contemplate a large part of the Biscayan coast. A strategic space that was once used as a military watchtower. Nowadays, it is possible to visit the surroundings of the Fort of Serantes and the Tower. The latter has been recently restored. We recommend you to read our article about the route to Serantes mountain.

San Juan de Dios Hospital: This hospital was built in 1924 thanks to the agreement between the order of San Juan de Dios and Pedro de Icaza y Aguirre. This is how one of the most important hospitals on the left bank was born. Although at the beginning this hospital was specialized in the treatment of poor children, nowadays it collaborates with the Osakidetza network (Basque Health Service).

Palacio Casa Torre: In the center of the town, next to the Church of San Jorge and the town hall, we find the Palacio Casa Torre, a noble building built in the eighteenth century. This structure, residence of Jose Maria de Lizana y Hormaza, Marquis of Casa Torre, is one of the most striking of Santurtzi. This palace was restored in 2011 to be able to host all kinds of cultural events.

Agurtza: What we know today as the Santurtzi Fishing Interpretation Center was one of the last wooden boats dedicated to traditional fishing in the Basque Country. A small nod to the importance that Santurtzi had in the inshore fishing of Bizkaia and Euskadi. This museum boat, shows us the fishing of the northern bonito, the canning of the fish, the different tasks that are carried out on a boat or the tools that the skipper of the boat has to direct it to a good port. You can find more information in our article about Agurtza.

Itsas Museoa: Next to the fishing port and under the fishermen’s guild, we find a museum space of more than 400 square meters that encourages us to learn about the seafaring history of Santurtzi with the help of new technologies. This museum emphasizes the figure of the Lemans, the corsairs, the sardineras and the arrantzales.

Santurtzi Park: Santurtzi Park, one of the largest and most important of the town, is located in front of the port, in the center. It is a meeting place with more than 10 tree species from all over the world. In the center of Santurtzi Park we find a kiosk built in 1917 that has some very interesting paintings and mosaics, we are sure you will like them.

Sculpture of a boy fishing: This sculpture has a special interest compared to the rest. This life-size figure shows us and reminds us of the place where the sea used to reach. This sculpture shows us the space where the old fishing port of Santurtzi was located in the 20th century. Curious, isn’t it?

Commercial Port: The Commercial Port of Bilbao is located within the territorial limits of Santurtzi. Due to the great industrial tradition of the Historical Territory of Bizkaia, the commercial port of Bilbao has been an essential enclave for the export of iron generated in our mines. Thus, in the 19th century, the construction of the most important commercial port in the Basque Country began. A port that even today continues to evolve, transform and expand.

Monument to Cristobal de Murrieta: This work of sculptor Salazar was inaugurated in 1923 in honor of Cristobal de Murrieta, one of the great patrons of Santurtzi. Cristobal de Murrieta was one of the most important bankers and businessmen in the Basque Country, a man who contributed greatly to the construction of schools, roads and many other structures in the town.