Markina-Xemein to Gernika-Lumo
Gernika
- Distance
- 25.4 km
- Climb
- 620 m up, 695 m down
- Ground
- 10 to 380 m
- Time
- 6 to 8 hours
- Difficulty
- hard
- Underfoot
- mountain, forest, dirt, paved
Where this day sits on the Camino del Norte
Above, the highest and lowest ground of each of its 34 stages. Below, the word each day is given.
From open-pilgrimages: each stage's highest and lowest ground and its interior theme.
The day
You pass the Colegiata de Zenarruza, a late-medieval pilgrim church (erected as a collegiate in 1379, Gothic fabric of the 14th-15th centuries, now home to a small Cistercian community since 1988) where the scallop shell carvings on the portal have been touched by centuries of pilgrims. The path drops through Munitibar and climbs a final ridge before Gernika. And then you arrive in Gernika, which is impossible to enter without thinking of what happened here on April 26, 1937. The Casa de Juntas with its ancient oak of Gernika — a symbol of Basque liberty since medieval times, periodically renewed from the same lineage — still stands where the old tree witnessed centuries of Basque assemblies. Picasso's painting did not come from here; it came from what was destroyed. Most pilgrims take an afternoon hour at the Museo de la Paz.
What pilgrims often meet here
- Touching the scallop carvings at Zenarruza
- The moment of recognition on entering Gernika — the name carries more weight than the town
- The Oak of Gernika at the Casa de Juntas — still growing, still symbolic
- Visiting the Museo de la Paz in the afternoon
You arrived at a place whose name was already in your head before you saw it. What does walking into history feel like when the history is recent?
The ground
Still inland. Crosses a series of forested ridges through Bolibar, the Collegiate Church of Zenarruza (erected as a collegiate in 1379, Gothic 14th-15th centuries, now a small Cistercian monastery since 1988), Munitibar, and into Gernika. The terrain is constant up-and-down with no long flat sections.
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Markina-Xemein depend on the day you walk.
Walk it with Pilgrim
In Pilgrim's Honor mode you can walk this stage as it is drawn here, and save its maps for days with no signal. The morning opens with this day's word, Gernika, and its story. When you arrive, it asks the question above, and you can answer out loud. Your walk stays on your phone.
With Pilgrim on your phone, this opens the stage, ready to begin. Without it, you'll see the stage and where to get the app.