SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN

San Sebastian District Guide

King Sancho el Mayor of Navarra (Sancho the Elder) founded the city of Donostia (the Basque name of San Sebastian) around 1180. It is likely, however, that people were settled there prior to the 12th century, possibly in what is now El Antiguo district. That walled medieval area was the beginning of the Parte Vieja (historical quarter, pictured at right), although not much evidence of 12th century architecture remains there. The oldest buildings still standing in San Sebastian were constructed after the 16th century. Remains of the city wall erected in the 1500s can still be seen at Monte Urgull, El Muelle and the Muralla de la Ciudad, a parking lot unlike any other you've seen.

Due to a huge fire in 1813, few buildings of even the immediately post-16th century era remain standing in San Sebastian. Among the few that do are the Iglesia de San Vicente (Saint Vincent Church), the Basílica de Santa María del Coro and the convent of San Telmo. After the fire, San Sebastians (or "donostiarrak," as the Basques say) began a concerted modernization... more