Old Cathedral of Vitoria
Description
In Vitoria, everyone calls it the old cathedral, and that nickname says a great deal about the affection the city feels for its most emblematic church. The Cathedral of Santa María, Santa Maria Katedrala in Basque, is a Gothic Catholic building and an essential visit for anyone arriving in the capital of the Basque Country keen to understand its history.
Its importance has also been recognised internationally. Since 2015, the cathedral has been among the sites on the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain that UNESCO has declared a World Heritage Site. This places it within a network of sites linked by the pilgrimage route to Santiago, and makes a visit more than just a stop at a monument: it is also a glimpse of one of the landmarks on a way that has crossed the north of the Peninsula for centuries.
It is best approached at a leisurely pace, letting its Gothic architecture set the rhythm of your stroll. Its nickname, the old cathedral, invites you to imagine the weight of time on its walls and to discover why the people of Vitoria still regard it as a symbol of their own. Whether you are travelling in the footsteps of pilgrims or simply looking to explore the heritage of Álava, Santa María is the place to start discovering Vitoria.
Routes that include this monument
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Best time to visit
From May to September, to avoid the more frequent rain of the rest of the year.
Location
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