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CONVENT AND CHURCH OF CARMEN

1691 and 1724 · The virgin of Carmen, patron saint of the town.

The conventual complex of great proportions is made up of the residence, the garden on the north side, the cloister and the church. The convent was founded in 1691 by the abbot of the Collegiate Church of Zenarruza, Ignacio de Munibe y Axpe, son of the counts of Peñaflorida.

The church built under the Baroque style was inaugurated in 1724. The architect is unknown although the construction is attributed to the Carmelite Fray Marcos. In 1808, the convent was suppressed and it became a barracks for French troops. Likewise, in 1839, due to the exclaustration, the religious were expelled until 1869.

The facade made of sandstone arranged in ashlar masonry has three bodies: one central and two laterals. The central one, higher than the sides, houses a niche with the sculpture of the Virgen of Carmen and is topped by a triangular pediment that includes the coat of arms of the Order. The lateral bodies, lower and narrower, are topped by gables.

The interior of the temple has a Latin cross shape, a straight apse and three halls. The two lateral halls, in the same way as the Carmel churches, are arranged as a processional cloister. Its covering is done by means of domes, while the central hall and the arms of the transept are made with lunettes and with a cupola.

The main altar, in baroque style, is presided over by the Virgen of Carmen; to the right is saint Cyril of Alexandria and to the left, saint Elias. The altarpiece Christ on the Cross is finished off with saint Angelo on the right and saint John of the Cross on the left. The lateral altars, also baroque, are dedicated to saint Joseph (Gospel) and saint Teresa (Epistle). Next to this altar, there is another one dedicated to san Joaquín and santa Ana.

Each side hall contains four altars. Those on the right are dedicated to the Sacred Heart, saint Michael, saint Teresa of Lisieux and to Calvary or Crucifixion of Christ. Those on the left are for the Flagellation, saint John of the Cross, saint Anthony of Padua and the Souls of Purgatory.

Currently, a part of the premises of this convent is enabled as a hostel for pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago.

Karmengo Kalea, 5
48270 Markina-Xemein, Bizkaia

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HISTORIC CENTER

The historic center has a medieval planning structured in three longitudinal streets and a corner block that unites them (Guenkalea, Erdikokalea and Kaleokerra- and a transverse street –Zeharkalea). The town was surrounded by a wall in which three gates were opened: those of Orueta, Irureta and Suso/Goiko. The wall was the element that marked the difference between the town and the parish church: the town of an urban nature with a concentrated population and the parish of a rural nature with a scattered population. The wall gradually disappeared due to demographic pressure, so the town grew in the direction of its extreme neighborhoods – the suburbs. At each door a suburb would appear: Abesua’s at the door of Irureta; Artibai’s in that of Orueta; and Arriba/Goiko’s (Suso), today Karmengo Kalea, which began at the door of the same name. The plots that make up the town have undergone transformations in their dimensions and in their internal distribution so that most of the buildings have lost their medieval image. However, the town preserves very well, despite the changes made in the modern and contemporary periods, the layout of its streets. The Historic Center was classified in 1996 as a Cultural Asset with the category of Monumental Complex and its protection regime was established. In 2000, the Camino de Santiago was also classified as a Cultural Asset with the category of Monumental Complex and it included the Historic Center of Markina-Xemein. Let us remember that the coastal route of the Camino de Santiago goes up to Mendaro (Gipuzkoa) and enters Markina through the Arnoate peak. Going down Arnoate, the Camino enters the Lea-Artibai region through Markina and following the banks of Artibai River, the pilgrims reach Ziortza-Bolibar.

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Zeharkalea

Old Town Hall. Until the construction of the town hall, the council that governed the town held its meetings in the corner end of Erdikokalea, in Xemein, and in the church of San Pedro de Elizabarria. The biography of this building, which today is the headquarters of the Justice of Peace, dates back to the 16th century. It is a property that has undergone different phases in its construction. Since the 18th century it was agreed to expand the first existing building so that in the 19th century it could proceed with new reforms and distributions in which the architect Rafael Zavala intervened. On the ground floor there is a wide open portico supported by eight baroque sandstone columns from Mount Oiz made by Juan de Basaybar and Sebastián de Leixardi between the years 1636 and 1646. The first floor overlooks Guenkalea, Erdikokalea and Zeharkalea streets with wrought iron balconies. The portico, next to the main door, houses a canvas of the Immaculate Conception and a sign with the following text: Don Francisco Aguriano Bishop of Calahorra y la Calzada grants 40 days of indulgence to anyone who prays a Hail Mary or Hail to this Holy Image. The image and the text evoke the one who was the Patroness of the town from the 17th to the early 20th centuries. The tower, from the 19th century, is included within the set of the old town hall; its construction, as well as the machinery of the clock, has undergone several reforms. The clock continues to provide the time and the tower is in excellent condition.

It is a baroque building whose execution is attributed to the architect Lucas Longa. Above the access, topped by a curved and split pediment, lays the Murga’s arms shine; a nude figure of a child holds the shield in sandstone, oval shape, with five poplar leaves and a border of thirteen eight-pointed stars. Its facade stands out for the ashlar masonry, the excellent forging of the balconies, the carvings of the eaves and the horse iron rings on the ground floor.

On this street there are two residential houses that maintain painted decoration on the wall of the main facade. Zeharkalea nº 3 has a triangular pediment with a circle inscribed on the lintel of the central span of the second floor. On the sides there are two hot air balloons similar to those from the late 18th century. In the upper part, a legend is distributed in three circular borders. The last one covered by a recent work. They say: SE EXECUTO (built) and AÑO (year) without seeing the one that has the date. The bottom of the wall is painted with simulating ashlars. The house that occupies nº 7 on this same street also maintains decorative paint on its walls. On the first floor, you can see various heraldic features like rockery and plants and on the second floor, faces appear above the windows. Two borders finish the facade with: AÑO and 1985. This building has been recently demolished and its facade rebuilt with reconstituted paintings.

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Guenkalea

In the 1630 population census of Markina, this late medieval tower transformed into a palace belongs to Doña María de Ugarte. Thanks to Andrés de Ansotegui, his successor, the tower went through repairs since he made it a residential building. It is the example of a tower built within the walls so that its inhabitants could have closer the municipal power. The main facade, in limestone ashlar masonry, consists of three floors and an attic. The two arches on the ground floor, the twin pointed windows of the first floor, the large continuous balcony of the second floor and the row of small beams stand out. On the ground floor there are iron rings that were used to tie the horses. On the contrary, the facade that faces Abesua Street shows a more military aspect.

In Guenkalea Street – formerly Somera street- stands the Ansotegi or Munibetxea palace. A tower transformed into a palace of which only the facade that faces Guenkalea remains and in which there are two pointed accesses on the ground floor and four pairs of twin pointed windows in the first floor. The missing building was painted in its upper part with geometric features similar to those that we can see in the upper part of house nº. 17 in Zeharkalea. Today it is a residential building that can be accessed from Calle Abesua nº 8.