Hernani, what to see and do.

Discover Hernani, a monumental site of Euskadi and one of the most striking towns in Gipuzkoa.

Hernani, a Basque town located just 10 kilometers from Donostia San Sebastian, at the foot of Mount Santa Barbara, encourages us to go up the Urumea River to know each of the jewels that hides its urban core. The historic center, once walled, was declared a monumental site because of the great collection of medieval buildings it preserves. Undoubtedly, one of the most important areas of Hernani.Although nowadays Hernani is better known for its industry and its cider houses, it still preserves intact some of its most important historical elements. Examples of this are the church of San Juan Bautista, the town hall, the Gudarien Enparantza square or the hermitage of Santa Barbara among many others. Ready to discover what to see in Hernani?

The town of Hernani originated in the 13th century. At first, it only had 2 streets (Kale Nagusia and Kardaberaz Kalea) and a square (Plaza Berria), but little by little it was extended. Although this urban center has lost part of its wall, it still maintains most of the streets and buildings from the Middle Ages, making it one of the most striking towns in Gipuzkoa and Euskadi.

What to see in Hernani.

If you are looking for the most outstanding areas of this town of Gipuzkoa, we recommend that you walk through its historic center to discover each and every one of the spaces that protected the old wall. Hernani preserves intact most of the buildings of the Middle Ages.

Town Hall: The original town hall of Hernani was built in the 17th century, unfortunately, it was destroyed during the last Carlist war (1875). The building that we contemplate today was built in the same location in 1899. The town hall of Hernani was part of the southern wall, in fact, it is here where we find one of the entrance gates to the walled town. This rectangular building has 7 arches and 2 domes that make this structure one of the most striking of this urban center.

Church of San Juan Bautista: This temple built between 1548 and 1595 is located in the heart of the old town, next to the town hall. And the tower of this church is literally attached to the town hall of Hernani. The entrance from Gudarien Plaza has a staircase that leads us to contemplate spaces such as the altarpiece, the organ or the tomb of Juan de Urbieta.

Convent of San Agustín: This religious building is located next to one of the entrances to the town of Hernani. In one of the ends of the historical helmet of the locality. This convent created in 1526 suffered multiple attacks in 1808 until it was practically destroyed. After being rebuilt in 1825, it became one of the architectural spaces of reference of the town. In addition to its cloisters, we must also highlight the church of San Agustín.

Urumea River: The Urumea River, also known as the river of cider, offers us an incredible natural landscape from its source in the Navarrese town of Leitza to its mouth in Donostia San Sebastian. Its nickname of the river of the cider is a consequence of the many boat trips that were made loaded with barrels of cider from the towns of Astigarraga and Hernani to the capital of Gipuzkoa.

Chillida Leku Museum: As the name suggests, this museum houses much of the works of Eduardo Chillida. In our streets and squares there are several of his masterpieces, among them, the international Wind Comb of Donostia San Sebastian. But it is here, in the Zabalaga farmhouse in Hernani, in a space of 11 hectares, where we find most of his works (more than 40 outdoor sculptures). In addition, inside the farmhouse we can contemplate some of his sketches.

Arch of Zapa: This is one of the entrance gates of the old walled town. One of the few still standing. A 14th century structure, it was restored in 2002 so that we can continue to enjoy this Gothic arch.

Aierdi Arretxea: This noble building located at number 15 of Kale Nagusia, was built in the sixteenth century. We are sure that its facade will call your attention, and its coat of arms, eaves and balconies have rich ornamental details.

Tower of the Gentiles: The tower house of the Gentiles, also known as the Portalondo House, is located on the edge of what was the old medieval layout. According to historians, it may even have been part of the old defensive wall of the town. This tower house was demolished in the 15th century. Today its 2 floors are occupied by commercial premises and houses.

Santa Barbara: Mount Santa Barbara is an ideal place for a small route through nature. A mountain of limestone rock, which invites us to know spaces such as the fort, the hermitage and the climbing school. Let’s start with the fort. It is a military construction used during the first Carlist War, the second Carlist War and the Civil War. Today you can still walk along its walls and passages. As for the hermitage, we must indicate that it is previous to the fort, and that in the year 1625 there were already signs of this religious temple. Unfortunately, the current building was built in 1955, little remains of the original hermitage. To finish, we must indicate that the rocks of Santa Barbara have been climbed since the 50’s. Since then, more than 120 climbing routes of between 18 and 28 meters in height have been opened.

These are some of the places we recommend you to visit in Hernani, but they are not all, if you want to continue enjoying this Basque town we recommend you to visit places like the humilladero of Santa Cruz, the washhouse of Leoka, the Botanical Park or the Egino house.

What to see near Hernani.

Near Hernani, in the province of Gipuzkoa, we find a number of places to see and enjoy. Places of great charm that perfectly complement the visit to Hernani. We hope you like them.

What to do in Hernani and surroundings.

Euskadi offers experiences for all tastes and budgets. Activities that we recommend you to enjoy during any getaway to our land. We leave you a small list with the most striking and demanded. We hope you like them.

Video of Hernani.

As usual in all our publications, we wanted to create a short video about Hernani. In this case, we review its historic center, one of the most important areas of the town. If you want to discover all the places and experiences that we recommend in Euskal Herria, we encourage you to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We are sure you will find videos that will help you plan your trip to the Basque Country.

How to get there.

If you are looking for how to get to Hernani we recommend that you evaluate each of the options mentioned in this section. We hope they help you to plan your trip to Hernani.

Where to eat in Hernani.

Hernani, like Astigarraga and the rest of the localities of the region, offers us a good number of establishments to which to go. And we must remember that we are in cider territory, a place where our famous sagardotegiak (cider houses in Basque) offer us a traditional menu that we recommend you to taste. Although it is not in Hernani, we recommend you to go to Zapiain. We are sure you will like it,

We hope this article about what to see in Hernani will be helpful to plan your trip to this beautiful corner of the Basque Country. In case you have any questions, we recommend you to use the comment system below these lines to let us know. We will try to respond as soon as possible. Ondo pasa!