Vizcaya province

This province is characterised by its two contrasting identities.

On the one hand, its interior villages, mostly rural and submerged in scenery of stunning beauty and, on the other hand the wild coastline with the wide open views across some of the most beautiful seascapes anywhere in the world.

These latter towns and villages are noted for their varied and rich architectural heritage in which there is a certain English architectural influence.

The costrast is evidente even in the capital city of the province, Bilbao, although, it has to be said, in a different way. The city was built with two focuses in mind: industry and art. And this latter ancient and modern art. The former is evident by the sheer number of heavy industrial businesses that have located in and around the city.

Under the artisitic category, the Guggenheim museum and the Cathedral of Bilboa are the most startling and magnigicent of examples.

Vizcaya is a province with a rich historical legacy around which an highly active cultural touristic programme has been built. The royal village of Guernica and Luno, in which the imposing Casa de Juntas is located is perhaps the most characteristic example of this.

It is here that the Basque parliament sits as it has done since the early XIX century, a fact recorded by the many neoclassic buildings found in the centre. Next to the parliament building is the Tree of Guernica which is a potent symbol of the Basque identity and which, it is said, is of the same age as the building itself.

More information: http://rutas.turismo.hispavista.com/