The PR-Gi 40 Aizarna–Santa Engracia route connects Aizarna’s historic town center with the Santa Engrazia Chapel. Other points of interest along the route include Polje de Aizarna, Santo Cristo de Aizarna, and the Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Aizarna Parish Church. This brings named landscape and cultural sites into focus alongside the connection between the town and the chapel. If you choose Aizarna for your stay, the route offers a specific focus on the town’s history, landscape, and the sites mentioned.
Two different trail connections
Another trail connection is the Zestoa–Aizarna walking route. It follows an old paved road and connects Aizarna, the original settlement, with Zestoa. This distinguishes it from the PR-Gi 40: the walking route focuses on the relationship between the settlement and Zestoa, while the PR-Gi 40 connects the historic town center with the chapel. This gives you a clear distinction when planning: would you like to explore Aizarna via the route to the chapel, or are you more interested in the described connection between the original settlement and Zestoa?
The hill near Santa Engrazia
The Santa Engrazia Chapel stands on a 507-meter-high hill in Aizarna, in the Urola Valley of Zestoa. From the hill, you can see Aizarna, Hernio, Izarraitz, Pagoeta, and the sea. The views mentioned extend from the town to the mountains and the coast; together with its hilltop location, they make this a distinctive landscape feature. The chapel is therefore not only a landmark on the PR-Gi 40, but also stands at a spot from which you can take in the surrounding area, with several named destinations in view.
Early settlement and medieval Aizarna
Based on structural elements found near the parish church, Aizarna’s first domestic use is dated to the period between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. The elements were assigned to this period. The town’s history also includes an early connection to agriculture: the first early medieval field identified in Gipuzkoa was found in Aizarna. This dating complements the evidence of early domestic use with a later connection to farming.
In the late Middle Ages, the construction of numerous farmhouses profoundly changed Aizarna; many of them have been largely preserved to this day. Taken together, the early settlement remains, the field, and the farmhouse landscape offer different historical perspectives on Aizarna: domestic use, agriculture, and the later influence of farmhouses. This makes it possible to explore the town’s history across several periods, rather than reducing it to a single building or era.
A commission for the high altar
Church art provides another specific historical reference. In 1688, the carving of the statue of the Virgin Mary for the high altar of the Santa MarĂa de la AsunciĂłn Parish Church in Aizarna was commissioned. The year refers to the commission for the statue and adds a specific insight into the church’s history of furnishings to the other historical references.
Discover more destinations: San Sebastián, Errezil, Escoriaza, Orio, Villabona, Beizama, Zumaia, Deba.
Back to the regional travel overview: Gipuzkoa.
