Top 19 Natural Monuments around Elantxobe

A beautiful vantage point. If the season is right, there's also the opportunity to watch whales. The path further to Gaztelugatxe, however, requires pushing because it's very overgrown. We didn't go far, but turned around and drove back along the road.

From the lighthouse you have a 270° view on the coast, very clear on st juan de Gaztelugatxe, perfect spot for some scenic pictures!

The Oma Forest - Omako basoa in Basque - is also known as the painted forest, the enchanted forest or even the Ibarrola Forest. Its most common name - Oma Forest - refers to the district in which it is located, which belongs to the municipality of Kortezubi. This original work of art was created between 1982 and 1985, when the Basque painter and sculptor Agustín Ibarrola used the trunks of trees as a kind of canvas for a total of 47 images. On them he painted animals, geometric figures and people, or just parts of them, such as eyes and lips. In addition, many of the compositions do not consist of a single tree, but must be viewed in the context of several tree trunks. To do this, you must pay attention to the signs on the ground that tell the viewer where to stand in order to enjoy the whole image.

In 1982, artist Agustín Ibarrola began painting the pine trees in the forest near his homestead with the intention of using the landscape as a canvas to give continuity to his artistic expression. It is at this moment when he decides to break the law of perspective and transgress the three-dimensionality of a white line until it becomes two-dimensional. From then on, he explored the possibilities offered by the arrangement of the forest trees, playing with the different planes of depth and creating artistic sets composed of human figures, curves or straight lines, and circles of intense colors. The ideas and concepts that it develops become more complex and advances in various directions as the painted forest expands. With the help of two students from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the UPV/EHU, he carried out a large part of the work that was open to the public until 2018, at which time the biological cycle of the forest came to an end. Given the importance that the work had acquired, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia began the process of making the Forest last, for which it had from the first moment the support of the artist who had made clear his desire for the forest to survive. In this way and in order to preserve El Bosque de Oma, the Ibarrola work has been moved to a new location, also recovering original artistic ensembles lost due to felling, attacks and natural tree falls. Today we can enjoy El Bosque de Oma more complete and more faithful to the artist's original idea.

The Forest of Oma is one of the best-known works of the Basque artist Agustín Ibarrola and is an expression of the artistic movement known as Art and Nature, which emerged in the late sixties of the 20th century and whose purpose is to convey artistic work to the natural environment, using the landscape as a framework, support and raw material for the artist. The work, located in the town of Kortezubi (Bizkaia), is made up of several sets of geometric motifs and figures painted on the trunk of radiata pine trees. The use of natural living supports, the play of two-three-dimensionality and the experience of placing the visitor at the center of the work of art through his discovery, as well as the diversity of responses it proposes, make this work a reference of the Art and Nature movement and of Basque Art in particular.

Urdaibai is an extraordinarily beautiful and varied natural space, which is why it was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1984. Its heart is the Oka River that rises on Mount Oiz and transforms into an estuary upon reaching Mundaka, creating spectacular marshes full of life. We recommend you see them at different times of the day to be able to appreciate both low and high tide. But in addition to unique marshes, Urdaibai offers you some of the most beautiful and appreciated beaches in Euskadi, Laida, which constantly varies in shape and size or the spectacular Laga beach, located under the imposing Peñón de Ogoño, which many define as “the closest thing to paradise.”

This cape is the most prominent point in Euskadi, located very close to the famous hermitage of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. If you bring binoculars, you can also occasionally spot cetaceans and seabirds. In addition, you will be able to see the current lighthouse as well as the old one, although only the tower remains of the old one.

Located on the spectacular cliffs of Cape Matxitxako between the municipalities of Bermeo and Bakio, the lighthouse offers panoramic views of the Cantabrian Sea. It is also a historical place, as it was the scene of several shipwrecks in the past and has a monument in memory of the sailors who died at sea.