Encartaciones Museum

The Encartaciones Museum is a Basque museum that aims to promote the study, research and dissemination of all the cultural aspects that make up the Las Encartaciones region. 

With the modernization of political structures at the beginning of the 16th century, new needs also appeared, such as the creation of a fixed and closed space that would allow the Meetings to be held conveniently. This led to the construction of a meeting house around 1500. In 1590, the construction of a new one was commissioned, the final finish of which took place in 1632 with the placement of the great shield. This building was a large cubic mansion with a semicircular arch that mainly followed Renaissance criteria. It had two floors, the lower one for a jail, and the upper one for the Juntas. Opposite a hermitage (called the Angel) was built which was completely renovated in 1675/76.

In the 18th century the so-called Posada de los Junteros was built, today converted into a hotel and rural house, and the Casa del Corregidor, current offices of the Museum of Las Encartaciones. The eighteenth century was, however, a conflictive period, as the councils involved constantly argued about the convenience of suppressing their boards and integrating fully (individually, not as a region) in those of Gernika, as those of Duranguesado had already done in 1629. Finally, after numerous disputes and divisions of different valleys and councils, in 1801 it was decided to abolish the Boards and the full integration of each municipality into the Boards of Gernika.

Museum of Las Encartaciones

With the abolition of the Boards, the House of Boards entered a process of deterioration that the County Council managed to stop at the beginning of the 20th century. At that time a major renovation was commissioned to the architect Antonio Carvelaris, which restored its original appearance. Years later it was decided to turn the Casa de Juntas into a museum, hosting pieces contributed mainly by religious and relevant figures from Las Encartaciones. Thus, on July 26, 1934 the Museum of Las Encartaciones was inaugurated, one of the oldest in Bizkaia.

The civil war and the postwar period affected the building since in the 40s several renovations were made and a small loft was added on the roof. Finally, in the middle of the 20th century, the architect Eugenio de Aguinaga was commissioned to reform the building, which had to last until the early 1960s, at which time it was reopened under the name of the Avellaneda Board House Museum.

In 1989, commissioned by the General Councils of Bizkaia (already owners of the historic headquarters of Gernika, Abellaneda and Gerediaga), the architects Javier Muñoz and Josu Urriolabeitia carried out the last major renovation of the building in order to turn it into a museum modern, dynamic and capable of carrying out various activities. The museum was inaugurated in 1994, again with the name of Museo de Las Encartaciones.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Lugar Barrio Avellaneda 12C, Sopuerta, Spain

Details

Founded: 1994
Category: Museums in Spain