Route 1
Guggenheim Museum – Plaza Moyua – Elcano
– Euskalduna Centre – San Mamés – Paseo de Abandoibarra
– Campo Volantín (with Artxanda option) – Paseo del Arenal
– Casco Viejo (with Begoña option)
The tour commences at the upper area of the Guggenheim Museum (1997, Frank
Gehry), next to “Puppy” (1992, Jeff Koons). We then walk to Plaza
Moyua via Calle Iparraguirre, where we will find the following buildings:
1. Palacio de Chavarri (Eclecticism. 1894. Paul Hankar and Anastasio de Anduiza)
2. Casa de Sota (Eclecticism. 1919. Manuel María de Smith)
3. Hotel Carlton (Eclecticism. 1926. Manuel María de Smith)
4. Palacio de la Diputación Foral (Eclecticism. 1900. Luis Aladrén)
5. Casa Montero (Art Nouveau. 1901. Luis Aladrén)
Plaza Moyua is also an opportunity to visit the Bilbao Metro (1995, Norman
Foster) and its iconic entrances, known as Fosteritos. Inside, the station
gives an unusual sense of amplitude and luminosity.
Afterwards, Calle Elcano will lead us to the Museo de Bellas Artes (Neoclassicism,
1945, F. Urrutia and Estanislao Segurola), which is one of the most important
art collections in Spain, and also holds excellent temporary exhibitions.
Crossing the adjacent Doña Casilda Iturriza park (1907, R. Bastida
y J. Eguiraun), we reach the Palacio Euskalduna (1999, Federico Soriano and
Dolores Palacio), an exhibition and concert hall, which was awarded Best World
Conference Centre in 2003.
Next to Euskalduna, we find the Bilbao maritime museum, underneath the Euskalduna
bridge and round-about. It is also worth seeing the near-by Casa de la Misericordia
(Eclecticism, 1871, Antonio de Goicoechea) and its gardens. The next stop
is the “cathedral of football”, the San Mamés stadium.
We return to Euskalduna, and take the Abandoibarra walk by the river –
the nucleus of Bilbao´s regeneration – to take a look at the sculptures
on display, created by many international artists. This will lead us to the
lower part of the Guggenheim, where we find “Mama”, an spectacular
spider sculpture by Louise Borgoise.
Following the Paseo (walk), we will reach the Zubi-Zuri bridge (1997, Santiago
Calatrava). After crossing it, we have two options: one is to take the cable
railway to mount Artxanda, to enjoy a panoramic view of the city, the river,
and of the airport, also by Calatrava.
The other option is to continue along the Campo Volantín towards the
City Hall (Eclecticism, 1892, Joaquín Rucoba), and enjoy the excellent
sculpture in front of it – “Variante ovoide de desocupación
de esfera”, by Jorge Oteiza.
We continue our walk along the river to Arenal, where we will find the San
Nicolás church (Baroque, 1756, I. Ibero), the sailors´patron-saint.
Here we turn left to enter the Caco Viejo (Old Town), reaching the Plaza Nueva
(Neoclassicism, 1849; S. Pérez, A. Echevarria and A. Goicoechea), a
charming and enjoyable square. We leave Plaza Nueva through Calle Libertad
towards Plaza Unamuno. Here, the tour offers two new options:
1. Climb the 213 steps of the Calzadas de Mallona to visit the Basilica of
Begoña (Late Gothic, 1620, Sancho Martínez de Arego), or
2. Continue through Calle Cruz and visit the Museo Vasco and the church of
Santos Juanes (Classicist Baroque, XVII c.). From here we take the first of
the Seven Streets, Calle Somera, to reach the San Antón church (Gothic,
1433), the Atxuri station (Regionalism, 1912, Manuel María de Smith),
and the Mercado de la Ribera (Rationalism, 1930, Pedro Ispizua), the largest
indoor food market in Europe.
We go back into the Seven Streets through Carnicería Vieja, towards
the oldest church in town, the Santiago Cathedral. Nearby, it is also worth
visiting the Palacio John. We continue through Calle del Perro to Calle de
Bidebarrieta, to visit the municipal library of the same name. At the end
of Bidebarrieta is the Teatro Arriaga, and if we look at the other river bank,
we find the atractive façade of the Estación de Santander railway
station (Eclecticism, 1902, Severino Achúcarro and Valentín
Gorbeña), which marks the end of our tour.
For lunch: there are plenty of restaurants along the way, but the most typical
(and interesting) would be a pintxos lunch along the Casco Viejo´s many
bars.
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