On the Bay of Biscay: Bermeo

The Basque Country or Euskalerría, a fascinating universe to discover, in which to get carried away by the senses and taste, satisfying the hunger for emotions for any daring traveler.

Located approximately six kilometers from Mundaka and about fifteen from that city, Guernika, which, like a phoenix, has risen from its own ashes, Bermeo brings history to life, recalling its old and deserved privileges.

Belonging to the region of Busturialdea and framed within the so-called Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, it is known of its greatness at least since the year 1236, approximate time, where it began to be considered as the main village of the Señorío de Vizcaya.

Swirling in front of that 'chicken', hole or hollow formed by its port, Bermeo rests peacefully rocked by the waters of a sea from which he obtains a good part of his reward, but to which he also pays painful tribute in lives, as corresponds to all people Sailor seated in these beautiful but at the same time, also deadly coasts.

Possibly enlarged and located in the place where the primitive church of that Romanesque Bermeo of the twelfth century was erected, the formidable mass of the church dedicated to the figure of Santa Eufemia - we must assume that of Merida, remembering, in addition, the great devotion that This saint has on the north ledge and, above all, in the neighboring Principality of Asturias - the town looks, as a whole, a metaphorical Scala Dei, where between steep climbs, the houses seem to support each other.

Typical, in addition, of the northern fishing villages, their facades tend to show a profuse variety of colors, as if somehow, the melancholic romanticism of the sailor had tried to catch on the ground, metaphorically and comparatively speaking, part of that beautiful color range which shows the rainbow that warns the truce after a storm rain.

It was typical, in medieval times, that the kings who visited Bermeo, made the corresponding swear in the church of Santa Eufemia.

A church, in front of whose square, interesting markets are usually established on Saturdays, where among the variety of products, it is worth highlighting those objects, apparently old, that for nostalgic and collectors, are a real treasure.

Presumably, this tradition goes back to time immemorial and comes to replace, in some way, those others that were celebrated since Neolithic times, where the number of oxen, the metaphorical 'gold' of that time, determined the position of the owner, with the only difference that instead of the church, those authentic stone venerators - veneratore lapidi, as San Martin de Dumio would say - did so in the vicinity of dolmens and menhirs, which somehow marked not only the supposed Wouivres or Celtic telluric currents, but also the sacred and commercial routes to follow.

That is why, we should not be surprised by the devotion that is noticed in the north of Spain for the figure of a saint, supposedly a martyr, at whose feet a cow or an ox is usually represented, since it is common knowledge of the relations between the Northern shepherds and the fabulous Extremadura pastures, which they moved in spring to feed their cattle.

Typical also, like any villa, city or town in Euskalerría, is the presence of true and excellent gastronomic places, which are called Txoko.

Notable in Bermeo, is the Txoko Ízaro Begui, which is also a privileged school where future chefs learn the rudiments and secrets of the exceptional Basque food and where, also recently, I had the satisfying pleasure of trying one of the best marmitakos I've had occasion to eat in my life.

Marmitako, is a succulent seafood dish, consisting mainly of potatoes stewed with abundance of that great delicacy of the Cantabrian, which is the beautiful one.

Also noteworthy is the presence, between the municipalities of Bermeo and Mundaka - or if you prefer, between the ends of Ogoño and Machichaco - on the island of Ízaro, an emblematic place where the film company Ízara Films obtained its logo and title.

Belonging also to this interesting and beautiful village of Bermeo, and worthily chosen as decorated for the successful series of fantastic Game of Thrones, the rocky promontory on which the humble hermitage of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe rises, is another attraction that invite, more and more, to know and savor a place with so much history, so much gastronomic and cultural wealth and above all, with such beauty, as is this worthy marine population of the Bay of Biscay.

NOTICE: Tano the text, like the accompanying photographs, are my exclusive intellectual property.

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