Vergara

Vergara (in Basque and officially Bergara) is a municipality in the province of Guipúzcoa, Basque Country (Spain), belonging to the Alto Deva region, with a population of 14,596 inhabitants (2018). The extension of the municipality is 75.97 km², with a population density of 195.22 inhabitants/km². Its altitude is 110 m s. no. m.. It holds the title of "Very Noble and Loyal Villa".^{[citation required]}

Vergara has historically been considered the capital of Alto Deva, its location at the crossroads between the communication route from the Cantabrian coast to the Castilian plateau, through which wool was exported, and the routes that led in Guipúzcoa, through Oñate, Elgueta and Zumárraga and in Vizcaya, through Elorrio, it favored its growth and economic wealth. With the irruption of the industry at the end of the XIX century and beginning of the XX century, Vergara became an important manufacturing center focused on the textile and metal industry. Textile production became so important and characteristic that the denim has been called "azul vergara".

Their weapons are: on a green field the crossed keys of Saint Peter with a star above them and a half moon below. The set rests on a bar, hanging from this three gold ribbons with an altar on a red field.

Location and access

The town of Vergara is located in the Deva valley, in the southwest of the province of Guipúzcoa on the border with Vizcaya. Located in an important communications hub, at the junction of the AP-1 motorway, which in Éibar connects with the AP-8 that runs along the Cantabrian coast, linking San Sebastián, capital of the province, and the French border with Bilbao, capital of Biscay and the most important city of the Basque Country and the rest of the Cantabrian coast. The AP-1, from the southern end, reaches Vitoria, the capital of the Basque Autonomous Community, and the main route to reach Madrid, the capital of Spain, and the Beasáin–Durango transversal axis. Vergara is equidistant from the three Basque capitals Bilbao, San Sebastián and Vitoria.

The relief is mountainous with heights around 800 m above sea level. no. m. and rivers that make up narrow valleys that have been occupied by population centers and industry.

Vergara borders the following municipalities: to the north with Placencia de las Armas, Éibar and Elgóibar; to the south Mondragón and Oñate; to the east with Anzuola and Azcoitia and to the west with Elgueta and Elorrio (Vizcaya).

Communications

Like the entire Alto Deva region, Vergara is regularly communicated. The GI-627 highway crosses the city linking Éibar with Mondragón and Vitoria. Parallel to the provincial highway is the Éibar–Vitoria AP-1 motorway, with two exits at both ends of the urban nucleus: Amillaga and Ipiñarri (completion date for 2008).

The Beasáin–Durango axis passes through Vergara joining the AP-1 here. This axis, which replaces the GI-632 provincial highway (completion date for 2010), is linked to the A-1 in Beasáin and to the AP-8 in Durango.

The road network is completed by the GI-3360 that connects with Elgueta and Elorrio through the Anguiozar valley and the GI-2632 that also reaches Elgueta but passing through the Ubera neighborhood. The GI-2630 joins Vergara with Oñate and the GI-3750 with Azcoitia. The bus service is provided by the company Transportes PESA.

Vergara had two railway stations. On the one hand, the station that belonged to the Durango-Zumárraga line, which together with the Vizcaya Central Railway (Bilbao-Durango) and the Elgoibar-San Sebastián formed the Basque Railways in 1906. This line linked Vergara with Bilbao and San Sebastián at the Málzaga station in Éibar, and in Zumárraga it connected with the Ferrocarril del Urola (Zumárraga–Zumaya) and with the RENFE Madrid–Irún line, with Iberian gauge. The second Vergara station belonged to the Vasco-Navarro Railway (Vitoria–Mecolalde section), which also had the Vitoria-Estella section and the San Prudencio to Oñate branch. The routes of both lines (Durango-Zumárraga and Vasco-Navarro) joined at the Mecolalde station. All these metric gauge lines were closed in the 1960s. At present, the projected Alto Deva Tramway that was to connect has not been built (the first phase was expected to come into operation for the year 2010) the towns of Vergara, Mondragón and Arechavaleta. In later phases, it would reach Oñate and Éibar connecting in Málzaga with the Bilbao–San Sebastián line. The Basque government ended up shelving the project, during the presidency of Patxi López, in favor of a modernized bus service.

Air and maritime communications are provided from the airports of the Basque capitals, Foronda in Vitoria, Lujua in Bilbao and Fuenterrabía in San Sebastián, and from the ports of Bilbao and Pasajes.

The distances to the Basque capitals are: to San Sebastián, 69.5 km; to Bilbao, 58 km, to Vitoria, 45 km; to the towns of the region; to Elgueta, 8.23 km; to Placencia, 14.5 km; to Anzuola, 4 km; to Mondragón, 9.75 km and to Oñate, 12.5 km.

View of Vergara.

Composition

The town of Vergara, in addition to the urban area, is made up of a series of rural neighborhoods with different degrees of their own identity, some of them had municipal independence until they were integrated into the town.

Hydrography and orography

Hydrography

The entire municipal territory of the town of Vergara belongs to the Deva river basin. Other rivers and streams flow into it, completing the hydrography of Vergara. On the right the Deva receives the Aránzazu that comes from Oñate, Anzuola, Arane and Musquirichu, and on the left Epele, Anguiozar and Ubera or San Juan.

The Deva as it passes through Vergara crosses several bridges. At the beginning of the XIX century Tomás López in his dictionary said;

This river Deva abounds in eels, varnishes and boggers; it attracts him fourteen or fifteen bridges of three and four eyes; it has five mills, with another twelve in the streams, and a ferret in which 6 thousand iron arrobas are worked annually. There are at the foot of 300 sources of good water, some martial or ferruginous, and a medicine called Eguzquiza, confinant with that of Anzuola.

Orography

With an altitude of 149 m s. no. m. Vergara sits on a terrain of Cretaceous marls interspersed with sandstone. The relief is very severe with slopes and few plains with many elevations that are around 700 m a.s.l. no. m. altitude. The mountain ranges run through the municipal territory in a northwesterly to southwesterly direction and include the 709 m Elosua peaks that rise above the urban core, Irutontorreta, Gurutzeaga, Galarraga, Azaldeguieta, Goi-mendi and Aingeru-buru.

The slopes of the mountains accumulate eroded materials that create colluvial soils with an abundance of minerals, making the soil fertile. The country houses dedicated to agriculture, the hamlets, are located on these lands. At the bottom of the valley there are alluvials of little extension. The soil is of the so-called brown limestone with humus rich in organic material. In the forests there is a high level of humidity, which favors the transformation of organic matter.

The forests are made up of chestnut, oak and beech trees, although the pine forests, of pine insignis, used for logging occupy a large area.

Climate

Vergara's location in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, near the coast, means that its climate is of a temperate oceanic type. Mild temperatures with mild winters and summers where extreme temperatures rarely exceed 0 and 35 °C.

Very abundant rainfall and uniformly distributed throughout the year; the average annual precipitation is 1300 mm.

In the valleys, thermal inversion frequently occurs, which causes morning fog and mist.

Economy

Vergara's economy has historically been based on commerce and the metallurgical industry. The consolidation of Vergara as regional head and its location were the causes of trade being one of the motors of the Vergaresa economy. The iron transformation industry, from the old forges to the modern blast furnaces, has been the other economic foot of the town. In the XIX century, metallurgy was completed by the textile industry, which became very important.

Agriculture and livestock, like the entire primary sector, have not had, nor do they have, great relevance. Agricultural and livestock work remains as a secondary complement to the family economy and is intended for self-consumption. Surpluses are sold in the markets of the area. Industrial development has been taking away farmland and workers from the countryside; There has been a process of abandonment of the farmhouse work, which has fallen to the etxekoandres (the women of the house) to go to the workshops. In this process, many lands used for cultivation or pasture for cattle have been dedicated to logging, which requires very little care. There are some mining activities, limestone quarries and forest exploitation.

The services sector is based on centralization as the regional head of the most specialized services. Even though Vergara has an important monumental heritage, there is no relevant tourist activity.

Primary sector

The primary sector has no relevance in the economy of Vergara. Agricultural and livestock activities are scarce and are carried out on small family farms, the typical Basque farmhouse, which are intended for self-consumption and the sale of surpluses in the markets of the region. The income from these activities is considered as a supplement to the main income of the family home. Agriculture and livestock have lost the best farmland and pasture to be occupied by factories in the process of industrial development, and at the same time many workers who had been carrying out their activities in agricultural and livestock work have abandoned these to join the the industry, leaving the exploitations as mere self-consumption and planting, in the arable and pasture lands, forests of insigne pine destined for logging. There is an industrial quail hatchery which is the only relevant activity in this sector. There is some open pit mining in limestone extraction.

Secondary sector

The secondary sector is the main economic engine of the municipality. Since the founding of the town, iron has been worked in ironworks and ironworks that produced iron and manufactured various products. In the XIX century, modern industry was established, which began in 1841 with the customs transfer process. Capital from trade is invested in various industries belonging mainly to two subsectors, the historical metallurgy and textiles. The impact of the textile industry was so relevant that Vergara is known by the nickname la villa mahonera and mahon blue is called azul vergara.

The textile sector was established in the town in 1846 with the creation of the company Fois, Silva, Blanc y Cía., which at the time would be Algodonera San Antonio, S.A. that would produce fabrics on a large scale. Around this company, many others, dry cleaners and weaving factories, are established. The development of this industrial branch reached its zenith after the Second World War. Textile manufacturing is complemented by leather manufacturing and the production of espadrilles, but these are already in a reduced form and within the family environment. Although it was in the XIX century when the textile industry was established, there was a certain tradition in the manufacture of textiles in the town. The General Archive of Simancas keeps a document in which the Catholic Monarchs confirm some ordinances of «the makers of Vergara cloths» from the year 1497.

The metallurgical sector, which remained artisanal until well into the XIX century, has its turning point in 1860 with the birth of the company Vergarajauregi, Resusta y Cía. (which was the embryo of the Union Locksmith). This company settled in the neighboring town of Mondragón, but located its steel production plant in Vergara, which consisted of two blast furnaces fed by charcoal. This plant was called Altos Hornos de Vergara.

Over time, an important metallurgical manufacturing industry developed with an activity similar to that of the rest of the Alto Deva region and neighboring Bajo Deva. There are factories for machine tools, automobile accessories, screws, forging, foundry, and household appliances. The cooperative activity, mainly of the Mondragón Group, is very important.

There are small hydroelectric power plants and some wood and flour transformation facilities.

Service Sector

In the services sector, the consolidation of Vergara as head of the region and judicial head has served to make its commercial development important. It still holds three major annual fairs. The services are dedicated to the needs of citizens and the important industry that resides in the municipality. Despite having a relevant monumental heritage, it has not developed a tourist activity.

Administration

History

The megalithic monuments that have been found in the municipal territory or in its vicinity testify that the lands of Vergara were already populated in prehistoric times. These archaeological remains are dolmens and burial mounds that are located in the megalithic stations of Udala-Intxortas and Elosua-Placencia (Karakate). The deposits were studied in the 20s of the XX century by José Miguel de Barandiarán, Telesforo de Aranzadi and Enrrique Eguren.

The first documentary reference to Vergara comes from the year 1050 and is related to the donation made by Sancho el Mayor to the monastery of San Juan de la Peña of some land that belonged, until then, to the monastery of San Miguel de Ariceta.

Middle Ages, founding of the town

In the year 1200 the lands of Guipúzcoa were incorporated into the Castilian crown and a process of founding towns began along the routes that linked the Cantabrian coasts with the Castilian plateau, thus promoting trade. The Deva river valley is the natural passage between the coast and the Álava plain and the Castilian plateau. The wool from the large Castilian herds will be exported to England in this way and the necessary iron for the forges will enter. In this historical context, Alfonso X the Wise founded, in the place known as San Pedro de Ariznoa, the town of Villanueva de Vergara on July 30, 1268 and granted it the jurisdiction of Victoria The form of regency was in open council. He says like this:

Let us face a people in Vergara, and in that logar which they say Ariznoa say; to which we name Villanueva, and by facer bien and merced to the inhabitants that exhaust are and will be daqui ahead, give them and give them the strength that they have of Vitoria.

With the objective of rapid population growth and strengthening of the foundation, which would serve as a nucleus of commerce and defense, different privileges were given. On May 27, 1273, the founding king himself granted, in Ávila, the residents of the town the privilege of exemption from chests:

...that all the son-in-law who had come or come to populate it and be neighbours of it, were taken from all breasts, asked for amendment and to anoint.

Later on, on May 20, 1344 in Seville, Alfonso XI allowed those residing outside of the town of Vergara to be neighbors so they wish, keeping their properties and residences.

...that the son-in-law and husbandmen who dwelt in some places of the region and wanted to be neighbors of the same village, keeping themselves in their plots, enjoyed the jurisdiction of the village, being judged by its mayor. This should, however, be understood in the event that they did not do such a neighbourhood to exempt themselves from the payment of the breasts and rights due to the king or some other right.

Church of Saint Peter of Ariznoa.

On June 16, 1348, the church of Santa Marina de Oxirondo was incorporated into Vergara by means of a deed of concord granted in the church of San Pedro before Fortún Ortiz, notary public of Mondragón, and confirmed by Enrique II in Burgos on September 10 from 1373. The Uzarraga porch was attached to the town in 1391.

The Ozaeta and Gabiria families take part in the Bando Wars. The Catholic Monarchs approve the Ordinances for good local government in 1490, but the representativeness of the different entities that make up the town is a source of conflict that means that in July 1497 an agreement has to be drawn up that will be signed by the Catholic Monarchs.

In 1506 the ordinances against fire were approved and in 1518 those that regulate the rebuilding of lime and stone houses. The town already consists of the urban nucleus and two suburbs, Videcuruceta and Masterreca.

It is known that around the year 1200 on Mount Elosua there was a castle near the site where the church of San Andrés is.

Modern Age

Commerce was the main economic engine of Vergara for a long time. Three wheat markets were held a week, attracting a large crowd of landlords and encouraging a good supply of accommodation. The trade was complemented by an incipient metallurgical industry based on the numerous forges that existed in the municipal territory. The conditions for fuel (firewood from the forests) and energy (rivers and streams) as well as iron ore, brought by barge to Deva and in carts to Vergara, were optimal for the production of iron and its transformation into tools, implements and weapons. both white (the knife makers came to have their own brotherhood) and fire.

The economic boom gave rise to the construction of numerous buildings, both civil, residences of nobles, merchants and officials, as well as religious. In the 17th century the town hall was built, the work of Lucas de Longa, the churches of San Pedro, enriched in 1626 by the sculpture, a gift from Juan de Irazábal, royal accountant in Seville, of the Christ of Agony, a work carried out in 1622 by Juan de Mesa from Cordoba, and Santa Marina, and the Plaza de San Martín de Aguirre is expanded.

In 1629 Anzuola separated and shortly after he tried to do so, without success, the Oxirondo parish church.

In the 18th century there was a cultural strengthening, the Royal Bascongada Society of Friends of the Country was created, which established a center where put their enlightened ideas into practice. The center works excellently and manages to attract great scientists such as Louis Proust or Chavaneau, especially to the chairs of Chemistry and Mineralogy. In 1783 the brothers Juan José and Fausto Elhuyar y Zubice discovered tungsten in their laboratories. In 1799 the women's school of the Company of Mary was founded.

In this century, the Camino Real was transformed so that cars could travel. This road would be part of the main communication route with France and Europe.

In 1718 the inhabitants of Vergara rebelled against Felipe V's attempt to establish customs. In 1766 they rejected the Machinada, siding with the king.

In the context of the War of the Convention, French troops occupied the town in November 1794 from where they were expelled in December by a troop under the command of Gabriel Mendizábal from Vergarés, who would be named the hero of Alba de Tormes.

Contemporary Age

The turbulence of the 19th century was felt in Vergara with the Carlist Wars. He took part in the first two where he got to fight in its streets. On August 31, 1839, the peace treaty that would put an end to the First Carlist War in the North was signed in Vergara. The treaty was signed by generals Rafael Maroto and Baldomero Espartero, who embraced each other, which is why this fact is known as the Vergara embrace. The place, which used to be called Aseurrunz-bide azpiko soluase, was renamed Field of Embrace or Field of Agreement.

In the middle of that same century, in 1846, the Algodonera de San Antonio was founded, which would give rise to the important textile industry that has settled in the town.

The town is named the "head of the judicial district" and is endowed with courts, jail and schools, as well as a new cemetery. Walks and squares are expanded. On July 1, 1888, the railway arrived in Vergara: the Durango-Zumárraga line, belonging to the company Ferrocarriles Vascongados. In 1918 the company Anglo-Vasco-Navarra inaugurated its Vergara–Vitoria line, joining it to the previous one at the Mekolalde station.

At the beginning of the XX century and in the shadow of the Unión Cerrajera, located in the neighboring town of Mondragón, the the Altos Hornos and with them a new neighborhood is born.

On the other hand, by December 1925 the annexation of the Anguiozar valley and the Ubera neighborhood was officially requested. After the procedures established by law, the Vergara City Council, with an agreement dated April 23, 1927, fully accepted the annexation conditions, in accordance with which the Elgueta City Council also, on March 24, 1927, accepted and approved the proposal for this segregation of Elgueta and incorporation into Vergara.

Vergara fell as early as October 1936 into the hands of the national side with hardly any resistance and its industries manufactured for Franco's army. The artillery batteries that bombarded the Elgueta front were located in the urban center of Vergara itself. The Anguiozar Valley and the Ubera neighborhood became the front line throughout the winter of 1936–1937.

In the decades of the 50s and 60s there was a great industrial development that led to an increase in the population with the arrival of citizens from other Spanish regions. This development resulted in the construction of the neighborhoods of Martokua, San Lorenzo and Matxiategi. Services are created and expanded. In 1976, the Associated Center in Guipúzcoa of the National Distance Education University was located in the old seminary.

At the end of the XX century and beginning of the XXI century, once the industrial crisis was resolved, the facilities of all type reusing existing buildings. A sports center is built in the Altos Hornos scrap yard and the house of culture in the Rotalde palace.

Monuments

The historic center of Vergara has been declared a Monumental Complex since June 2003. In it there are a good number of relevant buildings. In the neighborhoods there are also monuments, civil and religious, worthy of mention.

Town Hall of Vergara.

• Casa Jáuregi. Data from the beginning of the centuryXVI and highlight on its facade the engravings that cover it. Of german inspiration, they represent plant and geometric motifs and a series of real couples with crown and sceptre. It's a national monument.

• Church of Saint Peter of Ariznoa. This church is the embryo of the population of Vergara. The current construction comes from the end of the centuryXVI and early seventeenth. The tower is an added baroque of 1742. The main altar of silver style and dating back to the centuryXVI, stands out for its grandeur. It stands out the magnificent sculpture, summit of the Sevillian imagery and gift of Juan Pérez de Irazábal, real counter in Seville, Christ of the agony, work performed in 1622 by the Cordobes Juan de Mesa, an invented disciple of Juan Martínez Montañes and who came to Vergara in 1626 to the death of the owner, by mandate of his son Juan Bautista de Irizabal. San Pedro de Ariznoa is a national monument.

• Church of Santa Marina de Oxirondo, of rectangular plant, was built between 1542 and 1607, in a first phase, and between 1648 and 1672 in a second. It is structured into three naves separated by columns that have the smooth fuse and are crowned with classic capitals. The nerves that make up the vaults are born of them. In the centuryXVIII it was expanded with the construction in 1701 of the tower, of baroque style, and of the choir in neoclassical style made by Alejandro de Miranda at the end of it. In the interior stands the main, baroque altar, made by Miguel de Irazusta between 1739 and 1742. The imagery is from the vallisoletano Salvador Carmona. It's a national monument.

• Egino Mallea Palace. Built in 1585 in Renaissance style Manierista stands out for its sobriety in decoration. The main facade uses as decoration the rhythmic distribution of the architectural elements, columns, bases, facades... In the center of the facade opens a great cover that links its three floors. It's a provincial monument.

• Casa Arrese, built in the first half of the centuryXVI stands out in this building a magnificent Renaissance balcony that makes corner and was added at the end of that same century. On the balcony is the shield of arms of the family and on its sides, supported by sendos pairs of Ionic pilasters, there is an arquitrabe decorated with oblique lines, a frieze and a tanned ledge. An eardrum contains a bust of women and, outside of it, a lush decoration based on flamencos and dragons. This building is declared a provincial monument.

• Palace or Urrutia Espillaof the centuryXVII in classic style of herrerian inspiration. It stands out, on the outside, its corner shield and on the inside the large arch of access to the stairs and the great zaguán. In this building it was where the peace treaty of the first Carlist War between Maroto and Espartero was signed on August 31, 1839. It's a provincial monument.

• Casa Ondarza, built in the centuryXVIIt has two magnificent arches on which two shields are located, one of the arms of the family and the other the imperial of Spain. It's a provincial monument.

• Moyua Tower. The origin of the house dates back very probably to the centuryXVI. As far as your external configuration is concerned, your bill responds to a later performance. The house was acquired by Captain Juan de Moyua Barrena and Argarte in the middle of the centuryXVII. In this same centuria, works were carried out to expand the building. Subsequently, in 1751, important works were carried out that affected the heels, pinnacles and cornice, as well as the main facade. There is an interest in getting a palace to the old, reason that leads to the use of the already quoted pavements rematized by florons, the type of holes, twined windows, conopial arches... It's a provincial monument.

• Casa n.o 15 de la calle Artekale, has a formidable Renaissance facade dating from the centuryXVI. The decoration focuses on the cover with a half-point arch and an adjoined window. The bass is adorned with fine rosettes and a medallion in which a cherub is represented.

• Torre de Olasobuilt at the beginning of the centuryXVI, it is a quadrangular tower with sendos garitones in its corners adorned with pinnacles. It's a provincial monument. It is also the headquarters of Jakiunde, Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters.

• Errotalde Palace. It was built between 1598 and 1604 on a previous tower. Around 1615 reforms were made that enriched the building with carving work that were executed to adorn ledges, ceilings, staircase and alero. In 1661 it was acquired by Captain Martin de Murua Elorregi who was also a gentleman of the Order of Santiago, who ordered the placement of the coat of arms on the facade and the expansion of the windows, which were equipped with antepechos and balustrades of iron. It's a provincial monument.

• Palace of Ozaeta. On the banks of the river Deva, this century buildingXVI He came to replace the previous one. It's a provincial monument.

• Gabiria Palace, built in the centuryXV on another previous tower, it was expanded and renovated in the 16th and 17th centuries. It stands out in its facade a large coat of arms of the Gabiria. It's a provincial monument.

• Consistorial House, work of the architect Lucas de Longa, dates from the end of the centuryXVII. Its decoration is sober, where three great shields stand out, that of the province (Guipúzcoa), that of Spain and that of the Villa. There are several inscriptions on the façade from the book of Ecclesiastical that say:in the house of which he swore shall not be undone» and «or that much from there or that little from here». It's a local monument.

• Royal Seminar. In front of the Town Hall the building of the Royal Seminary is lifted. The current facade is of the centuryXIX. The importance is that this building was the headquarters of one of the most important research and teaching centers in Europe of the century.XVIII. It's a local monument.

• Casa Aroztegidated in the first half of the centuryXVI, stands out for the silver arch of the entrance and its door. The decoration of the door, consisting of 24 panels per sheet, is made with figurative motifs that reflect monsters that are transformed into plant elements, men with animal traits, heraldic medallions, etc.

Hórreo de Agarre o Agirre

• Hórreo de Agarredated in the first half of the centuryXVIHe's the only Gipuzkono. On a square floor, it is built on four square trunkpimidal brackets rematised by circular bushes. Made in machied wood without nails.

• Church of Elixamendi. The old parish of the Marindano district of the Valle de Anguiozar, today hermitage, keeps in its interior one of the few images of the virgin giving to suck the child Jesus. Around the lactating virgin, the belief has been created that her visit helps women concerned with pregnancy and children with speech difficulties. It is a small rural temple of a single nave, covered with wood, forming a carpanel arch supported by ménsulas. The apse is rectangular and in it is located the altarpiece on the sides of the Sendos altarpieces dedicated to San Martín de Tours with an image of the 14th century and Saint Vincent Martyr with an image of the 15th century. After the apse the sacristy and at the foot of the ship the choir resting on a large wooden beam. On the side of the gospel the pulpit rises. The entrance to the temple is carried out by an additive door framed by pilasters attached on which a fronton is located that collects a shield. The facade is completed by two windows. The image of the virgin giving to suck the child is Gothic flowery of the seventeenth century made in peral wood. The first time this temple was named in 1563.

• Church of San Miguel Arcángel of the Valley of Anguiozar. Renaissance of the centuryXVI with baroque tower of the XVII, this church consists of a nave and apse ochavado. The vaults are cross-cutting supported by half-point arches, made entirely of wood. The baroque tower is at the foot of the ship. The access cover is Plateresque.

• Church of Saint Andrew of Iriaun, Elosuabefore the centuryXVI in which he was declared a parish. The current construction is of Baroque style Churrigueresco and as they pray in documents of 1468 was built with materials from the fortress of Elosua. It's one-ship with two sections and apse straight. The tower as the main altar are baroque. In this church the guerrilla known as the Cura Santa Cruz hid during the war of Independence.

There are many minor monuments, mostly hermitages and farmhouses, that spread throughout the municipal territory of Vergara. The particularities of these lie in the use of the materials of the land and in its architecture that connects with the popular tradition of the country.

Placencia-Elosua Megalithic Station

The prehistoric funerary monuments of the sites of the Placencia-Elosua Megalithic Station, located on the crest of the Mazelaegi range between Karakate and Irukurutzeta, which form the so-called route of the dolmens, the name given to it by Barandiarán, is a very interesting walk between burial mounds and dolmens of the neolithic age. It is an 11 km route that crosses the municipal territories of the towns of Elgoibar, Placencia and Vergara. There are a total of 19 dolmens and megalithic elements (dolmens, burial mounds and a menhir) from the Neolithic and Bronze Age. It is estimated that this route corresponds to a place of passage between the valleys of the Deba and Urola rivers.

The so-called "Route of the Dolmens" It is the PR-Gi 94 short-distance trail that has a length of 20 km, of which 11 correspond to the Karakate-Iturriberri range, a route of low difficulty and reduced elevation gain, the rest are the access sections from the three municipalities.

Culture

Royal Vergara Seminar.

In the cultural sphere, Vergara has been a referential square. The creation in 1770 of the Real Seminario de Vergara by the Royal Basque Society of Friends of the Country was a fact that led Vergara to be considered one of the important centers of research and scientific studies of that time, achieving the isolation of tungsten in their laboratories by the brothers Fausto Elhuyar and Juan José Elhuyar. The Royal Seminary remained active until 1930.

The Real Seminario de Vergara was founded on the premises that were occupied by the college that the Society of Jesus had founded in 1597 and had to abandon after their expulsion from Spain in 1767. The Royal Basque Society left the center in 1875, and five years later the Dominicans took over the center until its closure in 1930. Currently, the headquarters of the building that housed the Royal Seminary are the delegation of the Distance University, the UNED and the Aranzadi school.

Basque

In Vergara two languages are spoken, both official, Spanish and Basque. The use of these languages by the population is as follows:

• It usually uses Basque 41.8% of the population.
• Usually use Spanish 38.2% of the population.
• They usually use both indistinctly 19.5% of the population.

They know:

• It tastes euskera 70.1% of the population.
• It tastes Spanish 100% of the population.
• He knows only Spanish 19.4% of the population.
• 10.5 per cent of the population is passive bilingual.

Since 1986, when the Basque language service was created in the City Council, Basque has been promoted through its use within the City Council itself and by promoting its public use.

In 1990, the first General Plan for the Normalization of the use of Basque was launched, in which the linguistic profiles for municipal jobs were established. In 1995 the AEBE plan was approved, which encouraged its use at the municipal level, which has led to making the local administration bilingual. Other agreements have been made in other areas seeking the same objectives.

Parties

The patron saint festivities of Vergara take place on the occasion of the Pentecost festivity. This holiday is celebrated 50 days after Easter, so it varies according to the lunar calendar. A festival is also celebrated on September 5 and 16, in honor of the saint from Vergara, San Martín Aguirre. In this festival, one of the three annual fairs is held.

Then each neighborhood has its own festivities in honor of the saint to whom its church or hermitage is dedicated; these are:

• In the Valle de Anguiozar: Cofradía de San Sebastian on 20 January, Saint Vincent de Parteitti on 22 January, Our Lady of Elizamendi of Marindano on 25 March, the appearance of San Miguel de Goimendi on 8 May, the Ascension of the Lord, San Miguel on 29 September, San Martín de Tours de Arezkurenaga on 11 November, San Juan Txiki on 27 December.
• In Basalgo, Santiago on July 25.
• In Elorregi, San Prudencio on April 27.
• In Elosu and Otaba, the second Sunday after Pentecost.
• In Labegaraieta-Altos Hornos, May 1.
• In Murinondo, San Blas on February 3.
• In Osintxu, San Emeterio and San Celedonio, known as Kofraixak. Last weekend of August. At these parties, which celebrates Costume of St. Emeterio and St. Celedonius a baked meat sandwich is divided by having to make the cofrady the “part of charity”.
• In Ubera, St. Paul, on January 25.
• In San Antonabat, January 17.
• In San Antonio, June 13.
• In San Cristobal, July 10.
• In San Juan, June 24.
• In San Lorenzo, late August.
• In Santa Marina, July 18.
• In San Marcial, first Sunday of July.

Sports

Vergara is a municipality with a variety of sports activities. Among them, the work done in athletics stands out, especially in the 1960s.

Fairs

In addition to the fair that takes place in September, the following are also celebrated at the San Martín de Aguirre festival:

• Saturday of Ramos (Erramu Zapatua), when hortofructural products, livestock and machinery are exposed and sold.
• Elosua Fair, cattle fair on October 12.

Bergara Laboratory Museum

Right eye of the anatomical model collection of the Bergara Laboratorium Museum.

Laboratorium Bergara is a municipally owned museum of the "society museum" type, whose permanent exhibition consists of science collections: instruments of chemistry, physics, zoology specimens from various parts of the world and anatomical models used in teaching. These objects originate from the Royal Seminary of Vergara. It is located in the Errekalde palace, surrounded by an English garden from the XIX century and very close to the town hall.

It also usually offers temporary exhibitions with different themes, mainly science. In November, together with other institutions and social agents, it organizes the Conference on Science and Technology in Bergara (Zientzia eta Teknologia Bergaran, ZTB).

In 2018 the European Pysical Society granted the title of EPS Historic Site to the Bergara museum.

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