Attractions and Places To See around Mendexa - Top 20

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.

Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption of Lekeitio (Gothic style).

Small town on the coast of Vizcaya (Spain). Since the 16th century, fishing has been the most important traditional activity. Ea has a river that divides the town into two parts. The houses are located around this stream, forming two long parallel streets. There are 4 bridges that make it easy for us to move from one street to another. One of the bridges, the so-called 'Roman bridge', has become the image of the town and its image appears on the municipality's flag.

Small town on the coast of Vizcaya (Spain). Since the 16th century, fishing has been the most important traditional activity. Ea has a river that divides the town into two parts. The houses are located around this stream, forming two long parallel streets. There are 4 bridges that make it easy for us to move from one street to another. One of the bridges, the so-called 'Roman bridge', has become the image of the town and its image appears on the municipality's flag.

It is located at the foot of Mount Iluntzar, and the average altitude of the municipality is 360m, the highest in the region. Starting in the 10th century, the neighborhoods as we know them now began to take shape, each one around its own hermitage: the Ikazurieta neighborhood with its San Cristobal hermitage, the Uribarri neighborhood around the San Miguel hermitage, the San Gregorio in the Merika neighbourhood, Santiago in the Lekerika neighbourhood, and finally the Elexalde neighbourhood, around the church of Santa María de Gorostiza. The gastronomy also marks the history of Nabarniz, with its specialty in red beans, and above all, the vegetable stew. Enjoy these specialties in the town's restaurants. More info at: https://turismourdaibai.com/es/nabarniz/

Lekeitio beach is called Isuntza and is located to the east of the Biscayan coast. Being located in the same urban area, next to the port and the local park, Isuntza has numerous walking areas, bars, restaurants and hotels in its surroundings. In addition, Lekeitio beach has lifeguards and urban parking. It also has public toilets, sinks, showers, changing rooms, bike racks and footbaths.