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Albaola Maritime Culture Factory

Basque historyBoatsCultural heritage of SpainMaritime museums in SpainMuseums in the Basque Country (autonomous community)
UNESCOWhaling museums
A reconstruction of the San Juan, a traditional Basque Whaling Boat
A reconstruction of the San Juan, a traditional Basque Whaling Boat

Albaola Maritime Culture Factory is a shipyard museum in Pasaia, Gipuzkoa, Spain. A scientific replica of the San Juan whaleship of the 19th century is being built in public, using the techniques and materials of the time. In 2015 the construction process of the whaleboat obtained UNESCO protection. In 2018 the museum received 63,000 visitors. At the end of the 20th century, the remains of a Basque ship were found In the cold waters of Newfoundland. After analyzing the remains of the ship and the old documents of Gipuzkoa from those times, they found out that they belonged to the remains of the San Juan whaling ship, which sunk due to a storm in that bay. By the 19th century, Basque sailors were fishing for whales and cod, and they established advanced fishing posts in Labrador and Newfoundland. The largest of them was in Red Bay: it had around 900 people, and 15 whaleboats traveled every year. The remains of the San Juan whaleship were found in that bay. Today, in the town of Red Bay, there is the Museum of Basque Whalers, which displays a boat recovered from the San Juan whaling ship. The remains of the San Juan whaleship were found in that bay. Today, in the town of Red Bay, there is the Museum of Basque Whalers, which displays a boat recovered from the San Joan whaling ship. The Albaola Association was founded by Xabier Agot in 1997 in America. At The Rockland Apprenticeshop in Maine, a 19th-century Basque fishing trainer was built between January and May 1998. When being brought back to the Basque Country, the trainer traveled from port to port for 29 days, each stage with local rowers (350 in total). It was then that the Albaola association was created, an organization that would receive and take care of the trainer's donation had to be created. He later studied the remains found in Red Bay and promoted the project of making a replica of the San Juan whaler, the vestige of the Basque whaling boat, in the Red Bay museum. The Apaizac Obeto expedition was organized in Canada in 2006 to recover the traces left by Basque whalers in Newfoundland and along the St. Lawrence River. They sailed in a traditional trainer called a Beothuk. It was a replica of the old whaling boat found by Canadian marine archaeologists in the cold waters of Labrador, built-in Pasaia by members of the Albaola association. In 2006 Jon Maia published a book chronicling the expedition, and in 2011 he directed a documentary film.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Albaola Maritime Culture Factory (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Albaola Maritime Culture Factory
Ondartxo kalea,

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N 43.32917 ° E -1.92582 °
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Ascorreta,astilleros

Ondartxo kalea 1
20110 , Pasai San Pedro
Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain
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A reconstruction of the San Juan, a traditional Basque Whaling Boat
A reconstruction of the San Juan, a traditional Basque Whaling Boat
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Eresbil

Eresbil, the Basque music archive, is located in Errenteria (Gipuzkoa, Spain). Its principal aim is the collection, preservation, protection and dissemination of the Basque musical heritage and, especially, the output of Basque composers. It emerged in 1974 as a result of the need to set the repertory for Musikaste, a week music festival in Renteria devoted to the spreading of Basque composers. Jose Luis Ansorena, within the Andra Mari Choir, the organizer of Musikaste since 1973, took the initiative to create a center to collect the works that could be spread by this festival. The collection of scores of Basque-navarre composers throughout the time began in 1974. Nowadays, it contains over 200,000 documents, 93,997 of which are audiovisual documents and 74,441 are sheets. Other 16,810 documents complete the collection, including books, magazines and microforms, and also 15,669 copies of varied documentation, such as letters, photographs, programs and posters. The archive consists of different sections: Basque composers: at the beginning, the score collection of Basque–navarre composers was carried out through queries in libraries and archives, purchase and collaboration with creatives. Since 2000, a score legal deposit copy is collected from the Basque Country Autonomous Community. Archives collections: documentary collections, archives and individual libraries, as well as institutional collections, began to arrive in 1978, either in terms of donation or as assignment on depot. Sound archives: this section stores the sound records of the works created by Basque composers. At present, the initial scope has been enlarged to include the entire musical production which is edited in the Basque Country, as well as the one concerning Basque musicians. Since 2000 a sound recording legal deposit copy is collected from the Basque Country Autonomous Community. Musical library: this section compiles the main printed sources for the musical research development, with an important presence of reference works. Furthermore, it collects European score collections to help musicians find and study repertory. Documentation: this section collects all kind of materials related to composers and music subjects in documents such as articles, press, letters and reports, and it also contains a poster collection, programs, photographs and iconography.

Mount Ulia
Mount Ulia

Mount Ulia is a minor ridge located east of San Sebastian in the Basque Country, territory of Spain, reaching 243 m at its highest point. The ridge stretching out to the east along the coastline sinks in the strait leading to the bay of Pasaia. The chain overlooks San Sebastian to the west, with the Zurriola beach and the district of Gros lying right at the foot. This privileged location turned Mount Ulia into a significant leisure and romantic area in the early 20th century, a condition in which it has remained until now, despite the pressure of urban development. Ulia was recorded as Mirall (a Gascon name and term) in 1530 after the whale observation point or rock still to be seen at the top of the ridge, while it was called Uliamendi as it approached the Zurriola inlet. The rock was used to watch out for migratory whales passing off the Basque coast before they became extinct in this area, with the watchers notifying the whalers from Donostia of their presence by means of a bonfire. Later, the westernmost tip of the ridge standing out onto the sea, Monpas, took on a strategic value for a short period after 1898 and became a stronghold with hidden corridors, military facilities and batteries, ready for an attack from the ocean. The Park of Nurseries of Ulia is at the beginning of the road going to Mount Ulia from Donostia. It is so named since the nurseries situated inside the park were the provider of plants for the public gardens of Donostia-San Sebastián during all the 20th century and until 2008. The park is of great value because it includes two ancient water-tanks, because of its architectonic elements, and because of its flora and fauna.