Our Lady of Arrate

Patrona de Eibar (Gipuzkoa)

On the top of Mount Arrate, on Eibar, the "Andra Mari de Arrate," patron of the villa and the txistularis, is venerated, an image of a Roman-Gothic transition between canvas by Ignacio Zuloaga.

Origin and history

The first documented news of the sanctuary dates back to 1498. The image is a wooden size from the end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th century, of a Roman-Gothic transition, considered the first Marian image of Gipuzkoa under the title of the Immaculate Conception. The present temple is from the early 17th century, with a unique ship with a wooden vault. In ancient documents it appears as "Arriarteko Andra Mari" ("Lady among the rocks").

The patron of Eibar, proclaimed by Pius XI in 1928, was canonically crowned on March 18, 1929; she is also patron of the Txistularis since 1927 and very venerated by the sailors. In the sanctuary are preserved canvas of Ignacio Zuloaga. His rosemary of September 8 combines liturgical acts with bertsolaris, dances and Basque rural sport.