Tourism destinations
Towns
Well known for its cheese, Idiazabal is located in the south of Gipuzkoa within the Goierri region, between Aralar and Aizkorri mountain ranges and surrounded by summits that do not exceed 1000 m. The N-1 is next to the town, an important junction of communications that connects Navarre, Alava and Gipuzkoa.
The urban area is constituted by Idiazabal as well as the Ursuaran neighbourhood, access from Etxegarate.
We will find on the nearby mountains many dolmens and burial mounds from the Neolithic and the Bronze Age such as Atxurbi, Napalatza, Unanabi, Etxegarate, Bidarte and Zorroztarri.
The parish church of San Miguel, with its spectacular porch of Romanesque-Gothic style, dates back to the 12th-13th centuries. It is also worth visiting palaces such as Txomenarenea, Floreaga, Arraizenea. Stately houses such as Eztenaga, Maugia, Oiarbide are also interesting places to go, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. In the main square, the presence of the monument to the shepherd, sign of the importance the pasture has had over the past centuries in these lands is outstanding.
Idiazabal Cheese was named after the town and follows the recipe that has been using for centuries by the Basque shepherds. The Idiazabal cheese with guarantee of origin is made of pure, raw Latxa sheep milk in the farmhouses of the area, with a two-month period of ripening process. The town has an interpretation and tasting centre, where visitors will listen in a fun and pleasant way the history of cheese and its elaboration processes transmited for generations. On May's first Sunday Idiazabal holds Día del Queso (Cheese Day), which gathers numerous visitors and shepherds from Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia, Alava and Navarre.
Whoever visits Idiazabal at the beginning of February will have a great time at San Blas' patron Saint festival. On February 3rd, well-known ring-shaped pastries called "rosquillas de San Blas" are blessed. An important tradition as in many towns of Gipuzkoa.
