Tolosa
Tolosaldea’s heart
Tolosa is the commercial and service centre of Tolosaldea, a meeting point for all its residents. It even was the capital of Gipuzkoa. The importance of its location, being an intersection of Castile, Navarre and France, has been a key point for its evolution. And also to have a wide variety of socio-cultural activities. There is always something going on in Tolosa!
20065 habitantes
24th June, San Juan
Qué ver en Tolosa
Tolosa transcends its historical center to become an open-air museum, where sculptures by geniuses such as Chillida and Oteiza coexist with contemporary urban art murals. For those seeking nature, the ascent to Mount Uzturre offers the reward of its recently restored natural pools and, as a bonus, spectacular views.
Outdoors art
The streets of Tolosa are also an outdoors museum: from sculptures by Eduardo Chillida or Jorge Oteiza, and paintings by Koldobika Jauregi or Iñaki Epelde, to the contemporary street art. Here we give you all the details.
Rural neighbourhoods
Bedaio –one of Aralar Mountain Range’s entrances–, Urkizu –located on Hernio mountain’s slopes– or Aldaba, are a great example of rural life in Tolosaldea. Each of these three rural areas is a starting point for a hiking trail which you can enjoy the beautiful rural landscapes surrounding Tolosa.
Uzturre and its pools
On the ascent to Uzturre from Santa Lucia there are some natural pools, very close to the ruins of the old Misericordia hospital, which have been recently restored. The views from the top are really breathtaking.
San Blas chapel
Located on the rural neighbourhood named after it, just a few minutes from the town centre, it’s a treasure. It was a parish until 1333, but it was rebuilt in 1820 after a fire.
Walking through three parks
Prado Grande is one of the oldest parks in Tolosa. At Elosegui park, forest-garden designed by Pierre Ducasse, there’s a wide variety of trees. In Zablarreta you will find extensive fields and Tolosa’s oldest tree: more than 165 years old.
Shopping
Tolosa has over 500 shops, some of them with over deeply rooted with over 100 years of history.
Saint Mary and its vaults
Santa Maria parish, built in the so-called Gothic-Basque style and with an area of 1,630sqm, is Gipuzkoa’s second largest church. The series of pillars make up three naves of the same height, each finished with a ribbed vault.
The steak and the grill houses of Tolosa
Some lists have included Tolosa’s carveries among the places serving the best T-bone steak in the world. Maybe that’s really something! But without a doubt, thanks to their quality, history and singularity they’re grill references.
TOPIC - Puppet Museum
In the historic center of Tolosa, TOPIC is the only comprehensive center dedicated to puppets in Europe. The House of Puppets, where you will meet puppets from all over the world and learn a lot about this ancient art, is an ideal place to go as a family.
Chocolate Museum, the sweet history of Basque gastronomy
In his chocolate museum, Rafa Gorrotxategi shows us a wide collection of chocolate pots from America and Europe, wooden grinders, porcelain teacups and mostacheras. Mortars, large mills and grinders, toasters, baking and refining machines, moulds, scales and other utensils from private collections or that Rafa Gorrotxategi has acquired over the last thirty years.
Tolosa
in pictures
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