The Pyrenean Iron Route

The Pyrenees Mountain Chain, which is now considered to be a barrier that separates two states, was once a common area for the different communities that occupy the region, in addition to a trade route and pathway for the transmission of technology and culture.those relationships were especially intense in terms of iron production – a sector that once had its own culture, perfectly separate from that of the rest of Europe.this iron making tradition brought about the creation of the Pyrenean Iron Route, which covers the regions of Andorra, Catalonia, the Basque Country, Ariège, and Aquitaine; a project that is shared between different institutions and is framed within the philosophy and guidelines of the European Institute of Cultural Routes. In the case of the Basque Country,a total of 11 entities are members of the network and they manage 14 facilities.

The Regional Government of Gipuzkoa, whose representative chairs the Association, is present through the resources at the Arditurri Mines Interpretation Center (Oiartzun) and the Agorregi Forge (Aia).at Arditurri, the vast underground mining facilities can be visited while contemplating mining artifacts from different eras – including Roman galleries.the Agorregi Forge is an exceptional place due to its design, which faithfully reproduces the workshops of the eighteenth-century hydraulic factories – so much so that iron has even been produced there with the methods of those times.

The City Council of Irun offers the Irugurutzeta Complex, a set of spectacular calcining furnaces, mine shafts, and other mining infrastructure.the municipality of Errenteria offers the legacy of five centuries of industrial activity linked to iron and the testimonies of the Fandería, which was the country’s most important hydraulic mill.

The City Councils of Zerain and Mutiloa are in charge of managing extraordinary mining landscapes; some around the so-called “Iron Valley” and others around the Aizpea mining area and equipped with their own interpretation center. Additionally, the famous Ormaiztegi Railway Viaduct is located nearby, included in the route by the municipality’s town council.

Also owned by the municipality is the Igartza Complex, in Beasain, which features a palace from the sixteenth century that is associated with the foundry as well as water mills with their channels and reservoirs.the inside of the palace has pieces of a monumental wooden gravity dam from the sixteenth century on display.thanks to this dam, the water necessary for the hydraulic facilities to work was collected and diverted.

The Lenbur Foundation of Legazpi manages the Basque Iron Museum, the Mirandaola Foundry, and the Chillida Lantoki Museum – a local route in and of itself that allows primary production activities (the foundry) to be included in the visit alongside artistic creation (through the work by the sculptor Eduardo Chillida), all in relationship with the iron sector. In addition to the Lenbur Foundation’s Basque Iron Museum, there is the Elgoibar Machine Tool Museum which is managed by the Elgoibar Machine Tool Foundation and the Arms Industry Museum of the City of Eibar.the former is a living museum that presents (in live operation) how the first industries in the region worked using brackets and pulleys, sets of lathes, drills, milling machines, brushes, saws, etc.the latter houses an extensive collection of weapons and a great variety of products made in Eibar (bicycles, motorcycles, sewing machines, etc.). It is a complete journey through the evolution of Eibar’s industrial history from the fourteenth century to the present day and age.

The museum facilities along the Iron Route in Gipuzkoa are topped off with the Basque Railway Museum, which depends on the Eusko Trenbideak Railway Company of the Basque Government and which showcases the evolution of said means of transport over 150 years of history, and Chillida-leku – the open-air museum that the sculptor Eduardo Chillida dreamed of and which has been conceived as a large, open space where the masterpieces of this great artist are on display.

These resources are just a fraction of the whole of the Pyrenean Iron Route, but they are of enormous historical interest and deserve to be visited as they have forged part of our identity and culture.