In Tolosa you can feel the art: from works by internationally renowned artists such as Chillida, Oteiza and Basterretxea, to more contemporary artists.
To do so, we recommend a stroll around the town, visiting the open-air sculpture museum or the mural paintings, created both by local artists and by guests at the Beantatuz Urban Art Festival.
Atahuts
Jorge Oteiza
Plaza Triangulo square
A gate that connects the Old Town of Tolosa with its more modern extension. It is an empty open construction with three positive-negative units. A diaphanous, open, public space. Atauts is a door, a gap, a void through which to enter, to connect, to communicate both sides.
Opposite, the arch of Castile. Stone against metal, past against present, both doors today without function, converted into emblems, into symbols. They serve to highlight the relevance of emptiness, of nothingness.
Arch of Castile
Triangulo square
From May onwards, and for several months, it becomes an momentary garden. During the Special Flower and Plant Market, local artists decorate the arch to represent a garden.
Memory castle
Ricardo Ugarte
San Francisco street
Located in front of the Provincial Archive, where the history, culture and, in short, the memory of this town is kept. It is a nod to the castle, a symbol of Tolosa and a figure on the town’s coat of arms. The castle and us. It sets out thoughts on what we want to protect: physical integrity, collective memory and culture, identity as a people.
The plough
Nestor Basterreletxea,
Emeterio Arrese square
An element of the rural world in an urban space that until the mid-late 20th century was occupied by vegetable gardens and fields. One of the tools that has contributed most to the development of the human being turned into art. A symbol that shows our close connection with the land, a memory and a tribute to the farmers. A way of making visible another Tolosa, perhaps forgotten, perhaps hidden.
Bull and harlequin
Tomás Hernández Mendizabal
Bull ring
Two deep-rooted traditions in Tolosa come together in this sculpture located in front of the Bull ring: the carnival, represented by a harlequin whose hat is reminiscent of that of the charanga band Polvo y Paja of the Txinparta gastronomical society, and the bullfighting tradition, represented by the moving bull.
Betidanik
Tolosa CF square
Mural created by students from schools in Tolosa, with the help of the artist Nisa Goiburu, in honour of the painter Iñaki Epelde, whose work inspired them to create each piece.
Berazubi
Veronica Werckmeister, Estibaliz Vera, Miren Gonzalez
Paper Kalea street
A colourful mosaic on the back wall of the pelota court of the Berazubi Stadium, which brings together three main elements of its daily life in the form of a collage: paper, sport and the people of the neighbourhood.
Silent chant IX
Koldobika Jauregi,
Zabalarreta park
The black stone of the mountains of Markina is used by the author to create a monolithic sculpture that brings nature closer to the urban space, calling for a serene, calm and silent observation. Silent chant IX is part of a group of 15 sculptures commissioned by the “Tolosa 750” Foundation in 2006 to mark the 750th anniversary of the founding of Tolosa, in homage to the ancient capital of Gipuzkoa.
The letter
Marat Morik (Russia)
Zumardiaundia
Realistic mural painted on one of the columns of the motorway bridge in 2019 by the Russian artist, special guest of the Beantatuz Urban Art Festival.
Lizardi’s window
Eduardo Chillida,
Andre Maria square
The open holes in the steel plate incorporate the void into the work, allowing us to see through it, to pass through it, to go beyond it. It is a sculpture in honour of the Basque poet and writer Xabier de Lizardi, one of the main representatives of Basque poetry in the period before the civil war. Born in Zarautz, he lived and died in Tolosa.
Artekalea
Nagusia Street
With the aim of revitalising the street, its shopkeepers began to decorate the areas that weren’t being used. There are also murals created as part of the Beantatuz festival. One of the most impressive ones is located in Gorriti square: Captain Borderline Crew, a work by B.Shanti from 2014.
Haizean
José Ramón Anda
Plaza Trinkete
A twisted sphere of a metre and a half in diameter and weighing more than 100 kg suspended in the air, spinning, swaying in the wind, that is Haizean. Located in the Trinquete square, which is a form of the Basque pelota game, this sphere, popularly known as the potato chip, represents the simple, elemental, perfect shape of the leather of a ball.
Plaza Berria square bandstand
Tomás Ugartemendia, Iñaki Epelde
Plaza Berria square
Iñaki Epelde designed a colourful mural for the vault of the bandstand in Plaza Berria square. In the lower part, there are stone carvings by Tomás Ugartemendia, which depict everyday elements of life in Tolosa.
Errementari
Errementari street
It is also common for Errementari street to be adorned with decorative elements, such as the Marionas, a typical Tolosa puppet. At the entrance to the Plaza Berria square, there is a large mural dedicated to the “Gigantes y Cabezudos” troupe of Tolosa.
Euskal Herria square
Euskal Herria square
The ceilings of the arcades of Euskal Herria square are decorated by several artists from the region: Iñaki Epelde, Jose Luis Longaron, Koldo Jauregi and José María Hernández. They are abstract, colourful paintings, with references to classical, Neolithic and medieval painting.
These are some of the works that can be seen, but there is much more. We invite you to walk its streets to discover more monuments, murals, graffiti and other artistic works.
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Opening hours
From Tuesday to Friday
11:00 — 14:00 /
16:00 — 18:00
Saturdays
10:00 — 14:00 /
16:00 — 18:00
Sundays
10:00 — 14:00
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