Gaztelugatxe: A Historic Pilgrimage Islet in Spain
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Spain
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Unclassified
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Chapel
On this page10 sections
History
Gaztelugatxe is a rocky islet belonging to Bermeo in Biscay, Spain, with a hermitage generally dated to the tenth century and dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. The islet lies within Bermeo’s municipal boundaries, while its religious jurisdiction belongs to the parish of San Pelaio in Bakio. Its name has been interpreted as either “rock castle” or “inaccessible castle,” combining the Basque word for castle with terms associated with rock or difficult access.
Early religious history
Archaeological discoveries indicate activity or a structure on the island during the ninth century. A longstanding tradition attributes the sanctuary’s foundation to Saint John the Baptist, the Christian prophet traditionally regarded as the precursor of Jesus. According to the story, he reached the island in three steps and ordered the sanctuary to be built.
In 1053, Íñigo López, Lord of Biscay, and his wife, Toda Ortiz, donated the sanctuary to the monastery of San Juan de la Peña near Jaca. From 1162, written references called it Sanctus Johannes de Penna, linking the site with the Premonstratensians, a Catholic order of religious canons founded in the twelfth century. Gaztelugatxe was probably used as a retreat by the Templars in the late thirteenth century. A claim that the sanctuary itself was founded by the order cannot fit the chronology, since the Templars were not created until 1119, after the sanctuary had already been recorded.
Conflict and religious traditions
Gaztelugatxe’s position on the coast made it a setting for military and political conflict. In 1334, Juan Núñez de Lara, Lord of Biscay, confronted Alfonso XI, King of Castile, at the islet. Sir Francis Drake, an English naval commander and privateer, attacked and looted the hermitage in 1593. Huguenots, French Protestants whose maritime activity affected parts of the Atlantic world, attacked the site again in 1594, looting it and throwing the island’s hermit into the sea. English troops assaulted Gaztelugatxe once more during the eighteenth century.
During the Spanish Inquisition, the royal institution established in 1478 to investigate alleged religious heresy, the caves of Gaztelugatxe became associated in local traditions with Basque witchcraft and the akelarre, a gathering or ritual traditionally linked with witchcraft and the Devil. People accused of witchcraft were reportedly confined in the caves.
Religious occupants gradually abandoned the site and removed its valuables, but local people continued to visit the sanctuary. Sailors who survived shipwrecks and women seeking help with fertility formed part of the continuing devotional tradition. Gaztelugatxe has remained a pilgrimage site since the Middle Ages. Tradition holds that visitors should ring the sanctuary bell three times while making a wish, a practice once intended to frighten away evil spirits.
Reconstruction and modern protection
Severe deterioration led to the complete reconstruction of the sanctuary in 1886. Coins and cannonballs discovered during the work were thrown into the sea. Their presence later attracted divers and encouraged modern exploration of the surrounding seabed. The Battle of Cape Matxitxako took place near Gaztelugatxe during the Spanish Civil War in 1937.
A fire destroyed the sanctuary on 10 November 1978. Volunteers recruited by the priest Ramon Mendizabal restored the building, which reopened on 24 June 1980. Gaztelugatxe and the neighboring islet of Aketx now form the protected Gaztelugatxe biotope, a legally defined area safeguarding ecological communities and habitats. The protected area extends for approximately 158 hectares from Bakio to Cape Matxitxako, and the site is also classified as a specially protected cultural landscape.
Living coastal observances
Local customs connect Gaztelugatxe with several nearby communities. Bermeo associates the feast of Saint John the Baptist on 24 June with the islet, Arrieta observes Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s feast on 31 July, and Bakio marks the Beheading of Saint John on 29 August. On 29 August, Bermeo traditionally renews its claim of possession of the islet, while a floral offering is made to the submerged image of the Virgin of Begoña. A year-end mass takes place in late December.
Fishing boats from Bermeo traditionally make three turns to port and three to starboard when passing the islet at the beginning of tuna-fishing campaigns. They sound their sirens after each turn, with their prows directed toward the hermitage, seeking favorable weather and successful catches. Local tradition also attributes healing powers to supposed footprints of Saint John in the rock. People have placed their feet in the hollows to treat corns and left hats, scarves, or berets there in attempts to cure headaches.
Remains
Rocky islet and approach
Gaztelugatxe is a continental islet approximately 270 metres long and up to 80 metres wide. A narrow pedestrian path and a solid stone footbridge with two arches connect it to the mainland. The island rises through steep, eroded rock containing tunnels, arches, passages, and numerous caves. Some caves were adapted for use, while stone beaches open along the sides of the islet.
The approach to the summit follows a narrow path and a staircase of 241 steps, with parts of the route cut into the rock. The staircase is arranged as a Way of the Cross with fourteen stations. Beside the hermitage, a small semi-open shelter protects people from the wind and provides a place for picnicking and views of the sea.
Summit sanctuary
The hermitage of Gaztelugatxeko Doniene, also called San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, stands at the summit and is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. The elevation of the summit and sanctuary is uncertain. The church was destroyed by the fire of 1978 and rebuilt in 1980. It contains votive offerings associated with sailors who survived shipwrecks.
Submerged religious feature
The image of the Virgin of Begoña was installed beneath the sea in 1963, approximately 10 metres deep in front of the islet and below the cliffs near the arches. A replica is kept in the Church of San Francisco in Bermeo. The submerged image forms part of the religious landscape connected with the islet and its maritime traditions.
Coastal geology and wildlife
The surrounding coast consists of eroded sandstone and hard reef limestone shaped by the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay. These materials produced the island’s tunnels, arches, cavities, and caves. Cape Matxitxako and its two lighthouses are visible to the east.
Gaztelugatxe and Aketx support Basque endemic vegetation, including gorse, heather, white oak, holm oak, and wild olive. Repeated fires reduced the former woodland. Rocky seabeds support kelp and saccorhiza algae, while the protected marine environment contains species typical of the Bay of Biscay, including sea bass, pout, conger eels, horse mackerel, wrasses, blennies, anemones, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, octopuses, spider crabs, velvet crabs, barnacles, and goose barnacles.
Marine birds breed on the islets, particularly European storm petrels, yellow-legged gulls, shags, and rock pigeons. A stable population of Pityusic lizards is also reported at Gaztelugatxe.
