Museums- Bilbao, Spain - VirtualTourist.com

GUGGHENHEIM MUSEUM:

The permanent collection of the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum includes mainly works by the most prominent artists of the last four decades of the 20th century, and it is complemented with collections on loan from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation - which include significant examples of Pop Art, Minimalism, Povera Art, Conceptual Art, Abstract Expressionism, etc.-, and with the special programmespatronised by the Foundation. Also, some of the rooms of the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum display monographic exhibits and others display works made specifically for this museum. Contemporary Basque and Spanish art is also represented with a selection of works by our best artists, which, as a whole, provide an extensive view of the most modern trends of our art.

CHILLIDA MUSEUM
Zabalaga country house, 15 km from San Sebastian, was built in the 16th century and was purchased and restored by the sculptor in 1982. The fields adjacent to the country house serve as a display space for over 40 large pieces created using iron and granite. Inside the building one can view smaller works, drawings and even his first sculptures of torsos. But his real personality is outside where his sculptures are displayed in the open air.
Stately Donostia-San Sebastian is lost amongst the backstreets of the Old Town. The undeniable glamour the city has is charmed by the local colour of its small fishing port. On the slopes of Mt. Urgull is this dream area, a source of inspiration for innumerable stories and legends which brings us closer to the true spirit of the city.

Old Donostia-San Sebastian is shaped around Mount Urgull. On the top are the ruins of Santa Cruz de la Mota Castle and the Chapel of the Christ of the Mota. All the mountain has been declared a pedestrian area and several paths lead to the Sacred Heart Monument.

As a starting point for our itinerary through Donostia's old town we will take the neoclassical Constitution square. In this square, apart from its unique architecture, it is worth noticing the numbering of its balconies, as if they were theatre boxes. In the old days, this square, now urban and cosmopolitan, used to be a bullring.

We leave the square via the back street to the Municipal Library, which used to be the old Town Hall, towards the 31st of August street. Here we come across the small Trinidad square, with its characteristic pelota court. Opposite the pelota court is the Basilica of Santa Maria. This temple has a baroque facade and two tall twin towers. Inside is the Virgin of the Coro, the city's patron saint.

Angel Street leads us down to the Port, passing through the so-called Dock Gate or Portaletas. Donostia's small port has many very interesting little corners full of local fishing colour. As we approach the end of the dock we can see the Aquarium and the Naval Museum, on the bottom of Mount Urgull, in an area particularly beaten by the sea. This is the New Promenade, which spans from the Aquarium to Zurriola bridge, just outside the neighbourhood of Gros.
In order to continue on our tour of the Old Part, we must return to Portaletas. Through Campanario street we get to Plaza de la Sala and from here to Mayor street, where we find the Principal Theatre building, which every year hosts the International Festival of Horror Films. The adjoining street, Fermin Calbeton, is one of the arteries of Donostia's Old Town. If we follow it to San Jeronimo and Embeltran, we will get to Sarriegui square, named after the famous composer of 'The March of San Sebastian'.

After crossing the square we arrive at 'La Brecha', the place where the popular La Brecha market is held. Very close to this spot is St. Vincent's church, with its imposing appearance of a gothic fortress. Next to is the headquarters of the craftsmen's Union, the oldest of all festive gastronomic societies in the city.

From the small Cañoetan square we can access San Telmo Museum, an old Dominican Convent which houses some interesting frescoes by the Catalonian painter Sert on the church wall, and several collections of Basque ethnography, art, anthropology and culture.

Museums, Bilbao

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Museums, Bilbao

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