Deusto
The district of Deusto, sat on the right bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, was an independent municipality until 1925, when it was annexed to the city much like other elizates (independent communities formed around a church) such as Begoña. Little is known of its origins, except that the church of San Pedro de Deusto, around which the community was developed, has been here since the fourteenth century. From then until the mid-twentieth century, when mass urbanisation of the area began—today the district is home to some 49,000 people—Deusto was a fishing and agricultural settlement dotted with hamlets, which had two discernible areas: La Ribera, the traditional seafarers’ and commercial district beside the river, and the inland, rural area known as the Goierri, famous for its Txakoli (a Basque white wine), wheat, corn, fruit and, above all, tomatoes, which give Deusto’s residents the nickname tomateros (meaning tomato sellers in Spanish). These days, the district of Deusto—made up of the neighbourhoods of Arangoiti, Ibarrecolanda, San Ignacio-Elorrieta and San Pedro de Deusto-La Ribera—has one of the highest concentrations of young people and students due to the presence of the Official Language School and, above all, the Universidad de Deusto, founded by the Society of Jesus in 1886.
Bilbao’s first district has now become an extension of the city centre, which it is linked to by means of the Deusto bridge and the Euskalduna bridge. The former, built in 1936, takes us back to the golden age of the Estuary of Bilbao, when it was a commercial transit point and the original drawbridge would open to allow large merchant ships to pass. Nowadays, this function is no longer used except on special occasions. The Euskalduna bridge, opened in 1997, takes its name from the famous Euskalduna shipyards, which were closed down amid serious rioting after almost half a century of existence in 1985 as a result of industrial restructuring.
The industrial Bilbao of the twentieth century also left behind a geographical oddity: the Zorrotzaurre peninsula, which has been in existence from 1968—when it was formed after the completion of works on the Deusto canal—to 2018. As from October of this year onwards, it will be referred to as Zorrotzaurre island, thanks to an urban renewal project that sees the peninsula transform into an island, connecting it with Deusto by means of the new Frank Gehry bridge.
One of Deusto’s most recognisable images is that of a nine metre-long tiger, work of the sculptor Joaquín Lucarini, which crowns the former building of the drive belt company El Tigre owned by Miguel Mendizábal; just one of the many industrial workshops that lined the riverbanks of Deusto. The district boasts other places of interest such as the Bidarte building on the long Avenida Lehendakari Aguirre avenue, which is today a municipal centre but used to be the mansion house of the Ybarra family. Built in 1897, a large part of modern-day Deusto sits on top of what were the private gardens of the house, which were also used as a hospital following the outbreak of the Civil War. The largest green space in the district is Sarriko park, which used to be an estate in which the Counts of Zubiria lived until the 1950s. Here, we find the only vestige, alongside the church, of the old medieval façade: the tower of Larrako, which was rebuilt and dates back to the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century.
Nearby plans
Related plans
Planes románticos en Bilbao. Por tierra, mar y aire
Salir de pintxopote por Casco Viejo, mirar la ciudad desde el monte Artxanda o escaparse a la playa de Plentzia son sólo algunos de los planes que Bilbao reserva para las parejas ávidas de experiencias.
La ruta definitiva para ir de pintxos por Bilbao
Hay algo que está claro, en toda visita a Bilbao hay que reservar por lo menos un día para hacer una ruta de pintxos por la ciudad. Esta forma de comer o cenar es una experiencia que sólo se puede vivir si visitas el País Vasco, y sin duda, es una de las más auténticas para conocer realmente su esencia.
¡Nos vamos a las fiestas de Bilbao!
Lo primero que tienes que saber es que, vayas en la época que vayas, Bilbao tiene siempre alguna celebración de la que puedes disfrutar. Es cierto que hay unas fechas en el calendario especialmente señaladas, pero Bilbao es una ciudad de disfrute al máximo.