Zumaia

Zumaia
Zumaia
Flag of Zumaia
Coat of arms of Zumaia
Zumaia is located in the Basque Country
Zumaia
Zumaia
Location
Zumaia is located in Spain
Zumaia
Zumaia
Zumaia (Spain)
Coordinates: 43°17′50″N 2°15′25″W / 43.29722°N 2.25694°W / 43.29722; -2.25694
CountrySpain
Autonomous community Basque Country
ProvinceGipuzkoa
ComarcaUrola Costa [es]
Founded1347 (1347)
Government
 • MayorIñaki Ostolaza Esnal (EH Bildu)
Area
 • Total11.28 km2 (4.36 sq mi)
Population
 (2018)[1]
 • Total10,044
DemonymBasque: zumaiarra
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
20750
Area code+34 (Spain) + 943 (Gipuzkoa)
Websitezumaia.eus

Zumaia ([s̻umaja], Spanish: Zumaya) is a small town in the north of Spain in the Basque Country.

The town has two beaches (Itzurun and Santiago), which are of interest to geologists because they are situated among the longest set of continuous rock strata in the world. These formations are termed flysch and they date from the mid-cretaceous period to the present, a time period of over 100 million years.[2][3] The K–T boundary is present at the Itzurun beach, and fossils can be found, notably of ammonites. The strata stretches along a distance of about 8 km, between the beaches of Deba and Getaria, with Zumaia lying in the middle.

The town is also the home-turned-museum of the painter Ignacio Zuloaga. Exhibits include works by El Greco, Rivera, Zurbarán and Goya. Across the street there is a museum of craft and hand-crafted products of Laia. Within the city centre, the Basque-style Gothic church of San Pedro can be found. It has a temple with a magnificent reredos by Juan de Antxieta, the only work by this Basque sculptor found in Gipuzkoa.

Zumaia is located at the point where the Urola and Narrondo rivers come together. The origins of the town can be traced by its ancient monastery. In the Middle Ages, the people who lived in the Sehatz valley having to endure the continuous attacks of pirates and pillagers, fortified the city. The church today retains the relic of its defensive appearance.

  1. ^ Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
  2. ^ "Urola Kosta: Things to do in Orio, Zarautz, Getaria and Zumaia | Bodega Katxiña". Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  3. ^ "La ruta del Flysch, un viaje distinto al País Vasco". Vipealo. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.