Caves of Altxerri, Ekain and Santimamiñe world heritage sites

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Ekain caves. Photo: EITB

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee meeting in Quebec on Monday added the Basque Paleolithic caves of Santimamiñe (Kortezubi), Ekain (Deba-Zestoa) and Altxerri (Aia) to its list of World Heritage sites.

This candidacy has been proposed by the Basque Government together with the governments of Cantabria and Asturias and apart from the Basque caves it also included other caves from the Cantabrian Coast, as a way to extend the list, after Altamira Cave, in the province of Cantabria, was named world heritage site in 1985.

Basque, Asturian and Cantabrian governments began the process to extend the list two years ago.

The three caves, closed to the public

Although the caves of Santimamiñe, Ekain and Altxerri are closed to the public in order to protect and preserve their Paleolithic paintings, there is a virtual tour available to visit the cave of Santimamiñe.

The richness of their Prehistoric paintings is a ‘gift’ the past has given us. Santimamiñe, discovered in 1916, has wonderful paintings of horses and bisons; in Ekain (1939), red and black horses can be found; and in Altxerri (1956) there are beautiful paintings of bisons.