Usurbil’s heritage is both valuable and diverse. Its historical, cultural, industrial and natural past have left us many treasures. Both locals and visitors can enjoy a wide range of features to learn while having fun and have fun learning: millstones, boundary markers, quarries, dolmens, mills, jetties, apple storage, ironworks, springs, tile works, lime kilns and so on make up a rich puzzle of historical heritage.
The church with its Cavaillé-Coll/Mutin organ
Cavaillé-Coll/Mutin organ (1907/1920), in the parish church of San Salbatore. The organ of Usurbil is of enormous heritage value because there is no other like it in the world. It is an international landmark and is visited by organists from different countries. Originally from the castle of Ilbarritz in Bidart, it was acquired in 1920 by the parish church of San Salbatore in Usurbil.
Andatza, a mountain of heritage
The mountain of Andatza is full of heritage of all kinds. On the one hand, it has its own circular paths, ideal for both walkers and cyclists. On the other, it boasts megalithic heritage and the above-mentioned millstones and boundary markers, quarries, zetaola, wartime trenches and so on. All this makes the mountain an important place in itself.
Usurbil, millstones and boundary markers
Usurbil has valuable relics of the human activities carried on over the centuries. The Aranzadi organisation has conducted an extensive, in-depth study and now both local people and visitors can enjoy it. It is the mountain with the most known quarries in Gipuzkoa province, the oldest of them going back to the 14th century. Its stone containing graphite was ideal for making the millstones of the day, and those that broke while being made were left there. Usurbil has the highest concentration of millstones in the Basque Country.
Usurbil is also particularly rich in boundary marker stones, of which the oldest date back to the 14th century, when Andatza belonged to Orreaga (kingdom of Navarre). Its boundaries mark the identity of a place. In Usurbil, some of the boundary stones found and the documentation that goes with them are real treasures.
For many years, the manufacture of millstones on Mount Andatza was a very important activity, as shown by the invstigations carried out by Aranzadi. The Millstones Trail (PR-GI 2016) is an example of that profession: it is a circular route of 8.7 kilometers and its degree of difficulty is easy. This hike is, therefore, another way of discovering the heritage of Usurbil.
