The largest city in the Basque province of Biscay, located in the north-central part of Spain, some 16 kilometres (10 miles) south of the Bay of Biscay. The rivers Nervión and Ibaizabal converge to the south-east and flow through the city forming the Estuary of Bilbao. Founded on 15 June 1300 by Diego Lopez V de Haro, the city is Spain’s 10th largest based on population.
Thursday, 2nd January 2020
A shuttered shop front sprayed with graffiti, including a mural of a large male figure, with an over-sized hand holding a cigarette. Only the lower part is in view.A long straight shopping street running through the Casco Viejo (medieval town), also known as ‘Seven streets’. This district used to be the walled part of the town until the end of the 19th century. The name Las Siete Calles (or the Seven Streets) comes from the oldest part of the neighbourhood, which included exactly seven streets, along with several more narrow alleys connecting them, called cantons.Looking towards a pair of ornate wooden doors, a side entrance into Santiago Cathedral, at the end of Posta Kalea in the Casco Viejo.View along Calle Santiago, a cobbled street lined with historic buildings that runs east-west immediately north of Santiago Cathedral.Entering the small medieval square of Plaza de Santiago. The stone wall on the left is part of Santiago Cathedral’s west façade.People sitting on benches in Plaza de Santiago. In the centre a stone fountain can be seen. The fountain has a cross-shaped base containing water with a square pillar in centre. Drinking water trickles from outlets on the sides of the pillar.Closer view of the fountain, showing the cross-shaped base. The fountain was designed by Luis Paret in 1785.Historic buildings around the edge of Plaza de Santiago. The ground floors contain shops. Small balconies enclosed with decorative metal railings above.A Gothic arch forming the large main doorway into Santiago Cathedral seen from Plaza de Santiago. The cathedral’s west façade is Gothic Revival in style. Out of view above, there is a spire.Entering Santiago Cathedral looking up at the vaulted ceiling. This Roman Catholic cathedral was originally built during the 14th-15th centuries as Bilbao’s main parish church. It was only declared a cathedral in 1950 when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bilbao was officially created.Rows of wooden pews down one of the cathedral’s side aisles.Close-up of Tony next to one of the cathedral’s large interior stone columns.A sculpture of a robed man with a beard and holding a cross, standing inside an alcove, perhaps depicting a saint.Row of large stone columns down the main aisle of the cathedral.View of the Baptismal Chapel. A large baptismal font made of red limestone in the foreground with a stone altar behind.Next to the main chapel. A colourful sculpture of the Virgin and Child attached to a stone column.Another carved figure attached to a stone pillar. A bearded man holding a book, presumably the Bible, and a crosier or staff. Could perhaps be St Anthony the Great.The main chapel. A roughly circular raised platform with the main altar in the centre.Looking up at the high vaulted ceiling above the main chapel. Stained glass windows around the sides.The Chapel of St Anthony the Great. In front there is a tomb inside a stone recess. The tomb includes a sculpture in dark stone of a reclining man and woman with dogs sitting at their feet.A pair of wooden doors in the cathedral walls.Tony and Tatiana facing towards and touching one of the doors.Tatiana and Tony now standing outside the cathedral’s main doorway. Lit up in semi-darkness.
Friday, 3rd January 2020
View along Calle La Cruz, a busy shopping street running south-west through the Casco Viejo (medieval town).Outside the main entrance to the 17th century Church of Santos Juanes (St John) located on Calle La Cruz. The façade is Baroque in style. The church was damaged by flooding in 1983 and has since been restored.Walking down Calle Artecalle, or Middle Street, one of the historic seven streets within the medieval Casco Viejo.View over to the Church of Saint Anthony. It is dedicated to Saint Anthony the Great. The church appears on the city’s coat of arms along with San Antón (Saint Anthony) Bridge. The church was built at the end of the 15th century in Gothic style. It has since undergone rebuilding more than once, in part due to flooding damage, caused by its position next to the Nervión river. The façade now embodies the Renaissance style of the 16th century.Another view towards the main entrance of the Church of Saint Anthony. It is located at the southern edge of the Casco Viejo next to San Antón Bridge.A shop with a display of beret hats in the window.Tony next to an inflatable snowman! Located outside a shop.
