Last weekend, work brought us to the seaside Biscayan town of Lekeitio, a beautiful cove on the Basque Coast where our whalers’ history is engraved in stone on the Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady. The basilica was built in the second half of the 15th century in the last Basque Gothic style, replacing an older building. Its construction is a sing of the wealth whaling brought to Basque coastal tows.
This church, which dwarfs the remaining buildings in the old town, and the modern one, was also witness to another tradition, that of townsfolk emigrating to the Americas to make their fortune, which they did. In the case of Lekeitio, we’re referring to Pascual Abaroa Uribarren who, having become a renowned and powerful banker, made several contributions to his hometown, including building the tower and portico of the basilica by the port.
By the way, we’ve already brought you the story of another Basque who did something similar. That would be Léon Uthurburu, another banker. He also invested in his hometown of Barcus, in our beloved Soule, making several donations, including one in the Galápagos.
But back to Lekeitio. As we said in an earlier Viewpoints entry, we’ve gotten ourselves a drone, and what better place to practice using it than this lovely spot on the coast; firstly, because it’s a beautiful location, and secondly, but not least, there are no legal limitations for drone flying there!
So we got there very early and started recording. Of course Murphy intervened, because after two months of glorious sun, they day we went out to film, it was cloudy. No worries, thought; Lekeitio is beautiful in any weather.
Now, we didn’t try to give a complete overview of all the beauties this town has to offer. We barely got out of the port area. But these images are an excellent way of getting an idea of how beautiful it is, and that we really need to keep practicing with the drone. We promise to get better.
To learn more about what can be found in this town on the Biscay coast, check out the town’s tourism website, which offers up a lot of great information in an attractive way.
We’ll leave you with this video we recorded, just over three minutes long. We hope you enjoy it.
Last Updated on Dec 3, 2023 by About Basque Country
