Category Archives: Basque Fact of the Week

Basque Fact of the Week: The Seven Mummies of the Basque Country

The paths I take to finding these facts of the week can be a bit tortuous, winding here and there, but they lead in the most interesting of directions. A few weeks ago, I posted about Inguma, the bringer of nightmares. One way to protect against Inguma is to say a short prayer to Santa […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Eneko Arista, the First King of Pamplona

If there was a time when the Basques were unified as one political entity, it was under the Kingdom of Nafarroa, which started out as the Kingdom of Pamplona. The first king of Pamplona, Eneko Arista, founded the kingdom sometime around 824. His family was closely intertwined with the neighboring Banu Qasi family – indeed, […]

Basque Fact of the Week: The History of Gernika

The Basque city of Gernika, in the heart of Bizkaia, holds a particularly special place in Basque consciousness. It is hugely important as a symbol of Basque rights and democracy, as kings would have to meet local leaders under the famous Tree of Gernika to swear to uphold the rights of the Basques. However, more […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Restaurateur Henri Soulé and La Côte Basque

This one maybe goes in the “if” category. La Côte Basque has been in the news a lot lately. La Côte Basque is a chapter in an unfinished novel by Truman Capote named after a famed New York restaurant – it is about New York socialites and is being brought to the small screen as […]

Basque Fact of the Week: The Muslim Banu Qasi Dynasty

I’ve often heard that the Basques have never been conquered. However, during the Muslim invasion of what would eventually become Spain, they reached the borders of the Basque region. This led to significant military, political, and even familial interactions between the Muslims and the Basques. In fact, one of the most prominent families of the […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Txorizo (Chorizo) and Txistorra

About the time I went off to college, my dad started making his own chorizo. He’d send me off with packages of frozen sausage – at the time, he’d pack them in a cut up milk jug filled with water and freeze them. So, I’d have rows and rows of chorizo that I’d broken free […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Uberuaga Island

Basque names are unusual and often striking, immediately recognizable. And generally they are rare, particularly on maps. So, it is pretty cool when your distant cousin is recognized for her career by having an island named after her. Maybe that should be on my bucket list – to visit Uberuaga Island. Thanks to Damiana Uberuaga […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Composer Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga

When a budding genius dies young, one wonders “what if” they had lived longer, what could they have accomplished? Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, though not even reaching his 20th birthday, displayed such musical genius that he was often compared to Mozart. His teachers praised him for his deep understanding of composition and harmony, despite the fact […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Inguma, the Bringer of Nightmares

Humans have always needed explanations for why bad things happen. If a crop went bad or a violent storm destroyed the harvest, maybe a wizard was the cause. Or maybe someone had not paid the proper tribute to a god or goddess. Bad dreams and nightmares are probably one of the most confounding experiences for […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Bilbo’s Iron Ring, a Defense that Failed

“The best-laid plans of mice and men…” Well, one can argue that Bilbo’s Iron Ring, meant to protect the city from the advancing forces of Franco, wasn’t even the best of plans. Fraught with poor and antiquated ideas, it was then sabotaged as the main designer switched sides. In the end, the Iron Ring did […]