The best walks and hikes around Forua

The old brick factory and chimney of Murueta are a vestige of the industrial tradition linked to the Urdaibai marshes, a reminder of the recent past that today blends into the natural landscape of the reserve.

The Urdaibai Bird Center is an internationally renowned observatory that allows visitors to discover the wealth of migratory birds that pass through this reserve throughout the year. In addition to its viewing platforms overlooking the marshes, it features interactive spaces where visitors can learn about the ecological importance of Urdaibai and its role in global migration routes.

Although the current hermitage, located in the Isla Bekoa neighborhood of Gautegiz Arteaga, was built in the 16th century, its head features an inlaid window of clear pre-Romanesque origin from the mid-10th to the 11th century.

The municipality of Gautegiz-Arteaga preserves the only tidal flour mill that once existed on the Urdaibai estuary: the Ozollo Errota tidal mill. Furthermore, the Arteaga mill is the best preserved and the only one that retains most of its facilities. The mill was built around 1683, in the marshland of Laida Beach, in the Kanala area. An area of the marsh was used for its construction, enclosing it with walls, and it was fed by the dam in the rear reservoir. In addition to the milling house, where the drive wheels were installed, the mill has a building at the lowest point of the reservoir. This is a house located on the edge of the estuary, above the same water inlet and outlet. Therefore, the Ozollo Errota tidal mill is the most notable heritage structure in Urdaibai. The mill ceased to operate in the early decades of the 20th century and has been privately owned for several years.

Kortezubi is one of the charming municipalities located in the Urdaibai biosphere reserve, between green meadows, mountains and the Oca river marshes. Among its places of interest are the cave with cave paintings of Santimamiñe and the forest of Oma.

The castle of Arteaga, also known as the castle of Empress Eugenia de Montijo, was built in the 19th century in neo-medieval style on the foundations of an 8th century castle. Its location stands out, in a large flat meadow surrounded by vegetation, unlike the medieval defensive castles built on a hill.

In Gautegiz Arteaga we have the privilege of preserving a flour mill from the 17th century. The only survivor of the six that were in Urdaibai and the most outstanding, not only of the Urdaibai estuary, but of the entire territory of Bizkaia. Ozollo Errota was built around 1683, the date of the contract between Juan de Echevarría and Martín de Ozámiz with the lords of the Arteaga fortress-house. The building is a house located on the very edge of the estuary, at the lowest point of the deposit. The mill-house is located on the water outlet and inlet gates themselves, with their respective closing metal gates. It was a mill of three pairs of stones and stopped working in the first decades of the 20th century. Its destination has been exclusively residential for some years now. An ingenuity that took advantage of the pronounced unevenness between the tidal levels. You will find the tide mill in the Ozollo neighborhood, at the end of the road. But remember that it is privately owned. To admire this mill, take the small path that takes you to the hermitage of San Lorenzo and you will have excellent views of the mill. https://turismogautegizarteaga.eus/gautegiz-arteaga-patrimonio-historico/

A fairytale palace in the center of Gautegiz Arteaga. Its origin dates back to the 13th century, but its history changed when Eugenio Bonaparte, son of Emperor Napoleon III, was appointed as Biscayan by origin, by the General Meetings of Biscay. It was the year 1856, and Eugenia de Montijo (ancestor of the House of Alba), wife of the emperor and owner of the Arteaga plot, decided to recover the dilapidated castle in gratitude for such an honor towards her son. The project fell to the French architect of the Imperial Sites, Couvrechet, and at his death, Ancelet, also an architect to the royal house of France, who built a new tower more suited to the needs of an imperial residence. Despite everything, the imperial family never came to live in it. The outer walls remain of the old tower, and unlike the defensive castles, this palace is not located on an elevated area, but on a plain, surrounded by trees, and with the Urdaibai marshland behind it. Today it is a hotel establishment that has preserved ornamental and decorative elements to maintain the essence and atmosphere of forgotten times. About 100 meters from the castle are its old stables, a building now converted into a gastronomic society. https://turismogautegizarteaga.eus/gautegiz-arteaga-patrimonio-historico/