Our next getaway to the north already has a destination and many travelers confuse it with Venice. Blame those ancient palaces and colorful historic buildings surrounded by water, which put this 13th-century medieval town on par with the famous Italian floating city. Of course, without taking a plane, facing overcrowding or leaving Spain.
Tolosa is the old capital of Guipúzcoa and still maintains all the splendor of that golden age. It is a town brimming with plans, historic buildings, monuments and, of course, good gastronomy. The land where Xabi Alonso was born, built on the banks of the Oria River and with an old town that invites you to get lost and look up continually: the facades are a spectacle.
Tolosa City Council
The list of beautiful buildings that we can see in Tolosa is long: the Town Hall from 1672, with a beautiful wrought iron balcony; the Arámburu Palace, the Lapaza House with 18th century ashlar walls or the Idiáquez Palace, with a façade that still maintains its original coat of arms. All of them are clearly in the Basque baroque style.
Idiáquez Palace
Not to mention the Palacio de la Diputación with its neoclassical style or the beautiful Berdura Plaza, with a glass roof that looks like a museum in Paris or Venice. And this is just to mention the most notable ones.
Berdura Plaza
Another must-see is the Puerta de Castilla, the only entrance to the old wall that still stands. The interior is still medieval, but what we see now are neoclassical additions from the 17th century. We can also visit the church of Santa María, which had to be rebuilt after a huge fire in 1503. The current one combines Renaissance, baroque and neoclassical styles: it took 200 years to build.
St. Mary's Church
From here we go to the Convent of Santa Clara from 1666, home of cloistered nuns and a baroque style church. Or the Navarra Bridge, which has crossed the Oria River since the 13th century (or so it is believed). Nearby is the Euskal Pizkundea Plaza, with remains of a necropolis, walls, an old mill and the foundations of a palace that was never built.
Navarre Bridge
The buildings are not the only beautiful things in Tolosa. It also has charming squares, such as the 18th-century Plaza Berria or Plaza Euskal Herria, which is home to the Topic puppet museum and the Saturday merchants' market. Although, if we talk about markets, the Tinglado is the most famous. Farmers have been using it for centuries, but now they have built a modern building to house it. If you visit, don't miss the floor: they are glass plates that protect the remains of the old wall.
Tinglado Market
If this marvel of a historic town is already a treasure in itself, we must add the enormous number of sculptures and murals that are in its streets and turn Tolosa into an open-air museum. No escape is complete without eating delicious food and here they are experts at that: typical Basque grills with ox, veal and old cow, washed down with cider, pintos and rations are the specialty of the place.
