The Anillo Verde passes through Lasarte on a 5.5-kilometre walk from Dehesa de Olárizu to Armentia; it takes approximately one and a half hours. This gives you a specific, though approximate, timeframe for planning. The church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción offers a different focus: its building history spans Romanesque origins and a predominantly Gothic structure dating from the 16th century. Together, they show two distinct sides of Lasarte—a walk with named endpoints and a historic building with several architectural layers from different periods.
Walks through Lasarte and along the Batán
The Southern Walk also passes through Lasarte. Its section here follows part of the GR 25 long-distance trail; the route also crosses the Batán River. These features provide different points of reference from those given for the Anillo Verde: there, the focus is on the route between Olárizu and Armentia and its approximate duration, while the Southern Walk is described in terms of its connection to the GR 25 and the river crossing.
A rural track leads from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Lasarte and runs alongside the former gravel extraction site on the right bank of the Batán. The routes described also differ in their specific points of reference: the Anillo Verde names two endpoints and an approximate walking time, the Southern Walk a connection to a long-distance trail and a river crossing, and the rural track its direction from Vitoria-Gasteiz and the former gravel extraction site. This helps you distinguish between the route descriptions based on the features mentioned, without combining them into a single tour.
Romanesque Details and Gothic Building History
The church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción was originally built in the Romanesque style in the late 12th or early 13th century. However, most of the current building is Gothic and dates from the 16th century. The polygonal apse contains a Romanesque window considered one of the richest and most beautiful on the Iberian Peninsula. It is also one of the Romanesque works singled out as part of Álava’s cultural heritage. The church thus brings together its early origins and a particularly celebrated Romanesque feature alongside the predominantly Gothic character of the building.
A Gothic inscription in the apse records that the building was completed in 1511 at the initiative of “Martiniz Abad”. The furnishings also include a medieval baptismal font and contemporary liturgical works by the artist Néstor Basterretxea. These details add different periods and forms of church furnishings to the building’s chronology. As a separate route, the Anillo románico de Vitoria-Gasteiz takes you to Romanesque churches that can be visited on an easy walk or by bicycle.
Landscape and Local History
The project area near Lasarte includes an area of particular importance for the sand martin (Riparia riparia), which is managed under a management plan. In Álava’s strategy for ecological and landscape connectivity, the project area is designated as an ecological connecting corridor linking wooded areas and riverbanks around Vitoria-Gasteiz. In addition to the basin within the project area, there are stands of alder and ash designated as habitats of community interest. The sand martin, riverbanks and woodland are distinct elements of the natural context described here.
Lasarte’s history also includes institutions and agriculture: it was the seat of the Junta de Caballeros e Infanzones, and wine was formerly grown here. A document from 1258 provides evidence of this earlier use. It offers a specific historical reference point for Lasarte, alongside the church’s building phases, which date back to the late 12th or early 13th century.
Discover more destinations: Labastida, Urizaharra, Agurain, Oion, Gurendes, Lapuebla Labarka, Molinilla, Leza.
See the overview of destinations in the wider area: Alava.
