The cloister
Traceried calm at the Gothic heart.
Patxi952 — CC BY-SA 3.0 es · Fernando Pascullo — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fernando Pascullo — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez — CC BY-SA 3.0
Santiago Cathedral is the heart of the Seven Streets — first Bilbao: fourteenth-fifteenth-century Gothic grown with the little port town on the coastal Camino de Santiago, bearing the great pilgrim's name and his scallop seal in its stone. Its quiet jewels: the slender cloister with traceried arches, and the Angel portal with its stair — the needle spire a later elegance stitching the old quarter's skyline. The audio-guided ticket usually includes riverside San Antón — the church on the city's coat of arms. A half-hour station amid the Seven Streets' maze and cafés — Bilbao before iron and titanium, where everything began around 1300.
Traceried calm at the Gothic heart.
First Bilbao's maze of cafés and pintxos around it.
Plaza Santiago 1, 48005 Bilbao
Church of San AntónA church on the bank of the Nervión at the edge of the old town, and among the o2 minutes walk4.5
Plaza Miguel de UnamunoA square in the old town named after the philosopher and writer Miguel de Unamun3 minutes walk4.3
Church of San Nicolás de BariA Baroque church at the northern entrance to Bilbao's old town, directly facing 5 minutes walk4.4
Museum of Reproductions, BilbaoA museum of plaster casts of famous classical sculpture, in a former church in B5 minutes walk4.3
Basilica of BegoñaBegoña is Bilbao's "Amatxu" — her grandmother, in the people's affection: the si10 minutes walk4.7The Basque tapas: morsels on bread lining the bars — the custom a bar-to-bar drift, one bite each. For halal eaters: seafood, tortilla, mushrooms and cheeses fill the counters — and asking ingredients is entirely usual, so ask freely.