Interesting places / Guadalupe Hermitage

City: Hondarribia

Guadalupe Hermitage

This hermitage was mentioned in 1526 due to the donation of six gold ducats made to it by the sailor, Juan Sebastian Elcano.


This is a single nave church with a transept and a flat wall. The present temple – which may be substituting another older one, at least from the sixteenth century – may be the result of the reconstruction carried out at the end of the eighteenth century. One of the most significant elements (and it makes it more peculiar) is the contemporary stone spire, made around 1860, although the supports – the corbels and cornices – seem to be from the seventeenth century.

Inside, two of the side altars stand out that come from the parish church and are witnesses of the very late Renaissance style and the main altar belongs to the Baroque era.

After the siege suffered in 1638, a year later the town of Hondarribia, in gratitude to the Virgin for the protection given during the attack, voted to celebrate the victory with a solemn procession up to the hermitage on every September 8th. This way, the main fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe is changed from March 25th to September 8th.

Photo of Guadalupe Hermitage