Azkoitia () is a town located in the province of

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

, in the

Autonomous Community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

of Basque Country, in northern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is also the seat of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of the same name.

Geographical setting

Azkoitia and the municipality of the same name, are located on and around the upper

Urola The Urola is a river and valley in Gipuzkoa, Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. The river is only 55 kilometres in length, and runs from headwaters in the Aizkorri Mountains, near the town of Legazpi to its outflow into the Cantabrian Sea ...

river valley, centered on a small

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A ''floodplain'' is part of the process, bei ...

surrounded by the Basque mountains. Except for the valley itself, the terrain is rather rugged, with elevations ranging to little less than 950 meters.

Population

As of 2004, the municipality numbered 10,946 inhabitants, of whom 5,324 (49.867%) were men and 5,262 (50.133%) were women. Age is distributed among the sexes rather evenly with children and adolescents (0 to 17 years of age) forming 16.235% of the population, adults (18 to 54 years of age) making up 53.744%, and senior citizens forming the remaining 30.021%.

Historical relevance

Azkoitia was the birthplace of the mother of

Saint Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basques, Basque Spaniard Priesthood in the Catholic Church, Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six compa ...

, founder of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

religious order. Ignatius' maternal grandfather, Don Martin Garcia de Licona, had purchased Balda Tower in the mid-15th century. Recurring bloody encounters in the region persuaded the king,

Henry IV of Castile Henry IV of Castile (Spanish language, Castilian: ''Enrique IV''; 5 January 1425 – 11 December 1474), nicknamed the Impotent, was King of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingdom of León, León and the last of the weak late-medieval kings of Ca ...

, to reduce the tower from a

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

to a

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

. On 13 July 1467 Don Martin's daughter, Dona Marina Saenz de Licona Balda married Don Beltran Ibanez de Onaz y Loyola from neighbouring

Azpeitia Azpeitia (meaning 'down the rock' in Basque language, Basque) is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality within the Provinces of Spain, province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain, located on ...

in the Licona family home in Azkoitia. The original wedding contract still exists. Loyola's birth house is still preserved as a museum a part of a large Jesuit compound. It is located a few kilometers east of Azkoitia's city center, at the small community of

, and is a major tourist attraction.

References

External links

Official Website
Information available in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

.
AZKOITIA in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa)
Information available in

Notes