A walk through Balmaseda old town

Balmaseda's historic centre is best explored on foot, at your own pace. Declared a Site of Cultural Interest as a Monumental Ensemble, it retains an almost intact medieval urban layout: four main streets running parallel to the Cadagua river, crossed by four lanes, leading to two squares, one at each end of the old town. Along the way, some of Balmaseda's most representative heritage landmarks come into view: the Old Bridge with its tower, once a medieval customs point; the fifteenth-century Gothic church of San Severino; the church of San Juan del Moral; the Monumental Ensemble of Santa Clara; and the palaces of Urrutia and Horcasitas. Balmaseda is the first town ever founded in Bizkaia, with over 800 years of history, and its historic centre is where that history becomes visible. A walk through it makes a natural starting or ending point for a journey through the Encartaciones region.