Elvillar

Elvillar is a municipality in Rioja Alavesa that gained the status of villa in 1667. Its position on a hillside gives it a distinctive silhouette visible from afar, with the parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción anchoring the skyline. The surrounding landscape blends vineyards, holm oak woodlands, streams and ravines.

The village centres on the Plaza de Santa María, dominated by the parish church — a 16th-century Gothic temple housing a Renaissance altarpiece created between 1545 and 1553 by Flemish sculptors. Alongside the square stand several manor houses, and the Casa del Indiano, an 18th-century Baroque palace notable for its carved stonework, woodwork and ironwork.

Beyond the village limits, the municipality preserves a remarkable prehistoric heritage. The dolmen of La Chabola de La Hechicera, discovered in 1935, is one of the best-preserved megalithic monuments in the Basque Country. Nearby, the Abrigo de Los Husos archaeological site yielded the earliest documented evidence of domestic livestock farming and cereal cultivation in the area. The Encinal dolmen, uncovered in 1943, completes the main archaeological ensemble.