Cider route: Modernity and tradition

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It is a real tradition to go to the cider bars and taste the cider directly from the casks, accompanied with the typical menu: salt cod, cutlet, and cheese and nuts. Although there are more and more cider bars that open throughout the whole year, it is better to go during the cider season, between January and mid April.

Astigarraga and Hernani, as well as Usurbil, gather most of the traditional cider bars, where they cultivate the apples and elaborate the cider before preserve it in wooden casks (kupelak).

The magic of the Chillida-Leku Museum joins a matchless landscape, with valleys and mountains like Adarra, Urdaburu or Akola, with megalithic and prehistoric remains. This museum houses Eduardo Chillida’s works in the Zabalaga Farmhouse (16th century). It is an open air museum that also offers big size works in the outside.

Starting from the museum, located in the Jauregi Quarter, and through the Marieluts Street, we will get to Hernani’s built-up area. We can start our visit in the Gudarien enparantza, where we will find the Church of San Juan Bautista, and continue through the Mayor (kale Nagusia) and Kardaberaz streets. Some interesting visits are the Church of San Juan Bautista, dating from the 16th century, the 13th century Convent of San Agustín, and several buildings located in the Mayor (kale Nagusia) and Kardaberaz streets.

We get out of Hernani and take the GI-131 road towards Astigarraga, Gipuzkoa’s capital of cider. This village, with a little bit more than 4,000 inhabitants, has about twenty cider bars. In the square, we will find the typical place for stone-dragging (probaleku) and the 17th century Town Hall. Near the Goiko-iturri Farmhouse, we can observe an amazing fountain and a funeral stele.

From the square of Astigarraga, going up through the road to the Town Hall’s right, we get to the Santio Quarter. Through this road, we will continue our way up to Santiagomendi. There are matchless views from here. Near the hermitage, there are tables where we can eat something and rest, as well as an exhibition of old farming tools.

It is an area dominated by very old farmhouses with presses and equipment to make cider. Road up, we get to the Hermitage of Santiago, located in the Coastal Way of the Road to Santiago. We can enjoy matchless views from here.