Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Touring a landscape of literary inspiration

ThePathoftheLizardofAsteasu

Walkthroughtheterritoryofabestseller

The path of the Lizard takes us to the literary world of the renowned writer Bernardo Atxaga, who was inspired by the landscapes of Asteasu for several of his works. It is a journey that combines fiction and reality, and puts in value our language: Euskera.

Tolosako Azoka

Asteasu and Obaba

Obaba is an indeterminate place where the author’s best-known narratives are located, such as Sugeak txoriari begiratzen dionean (When the snake looks at the bird, 1989) Bi letter (Two letters, 1990), and, Obabakoak, work translated into 26 languages.

BernardoAtxaga

It is the artistic pseudonym of Jose Irazu Garmendia, born in Asteasu in 1951. At the beginning of the eighties he devoted his work exclusively to literature. He has been awarded on numerous occasions, among other distinctions, with the National Prize of Spanish Letters in 2019.

Bernardo Atxaga
Bernardo Atxaga



TwokilometersthroughAsteasu

It is a short route of two kilometers that can be done freely. In addition to information panels that collect the stories of Bernardo Atxaga, you can listen to the recorded explanations of the author himself, which are accessed through QR codes that appear on various panels.




Asteasu
Asteasu Elizmendi

Thestartingpoint

You will find the depart point in the upper district of Asteasu, “Elizmendi”, next to the Pello Errota school. From there, it will be the little blue lizards painted on the ground who will guide your steps.




Words from the author

“When it came to creating Obaba, I started from the physical geography of Asteasu. What you can see from the village cemetery, that’s Obaba.”

Bertsolarismanditssocialfunction

At the beginning of the walk Bernardo Atxaga reflects on the phenomenon of popular improvisers, the bertsolaris. Atxaga refers to his role in traditional society: he explains what “creative censorship” consists of, and concludes that his work focused on satire and moral censorship.




Asteasu
Asteasu the lizard way



TheimportanceofBasquelanguage:Euskera

Atxaga refers to the illustrious characters who lived in the rectory, Erretotxe and the artistic treasures kept by the church of Asteasu: a baptismal font of the fourteenth century and a sculpture of the sixteenth century signed by Juan de Anchieta.




Asteasu
Asteasu porch



Elizmendi,thecentralplace

It is the central place of Obaba. On the steps of the church the episode of the lizard happens. On the way to the lower part of the village, you will continue discovering references to the universe of Obaba: the manor house of the uncle of Montevideo, the rabid dog of the “Ilobate” farm, the road of Andazarrate, the “Portale” farm…




Asteasu
Asteasu Elizmendi church



Amagicfountain

The road leads to a fountain, ideal place to sit down to rest and chat. That is precisely what Bernardo Atxaga did with his artist friends: the singer Mikel Laboa, the painters José Luis Zumeta and Ricardo Toja… Nearby, Ibargai is located, one of the oldest farms in Asteasu.







You may
also like...