Tag Archives: baserri

Basque Fact of the Week: The Feria of Santo Tómas

One of the biggest events to open the Christmas season in the Basque Country is the Feria of Santo Tómas, a rural market in the heart of the city. Originating in Gipuzkoa – more specifically Donostia – it has spread as a celebration throughout the Basque Country. Today, the Feria is a celebration of rural […]

Basque Fact of the Week: The Entry to the Baserri

The baserri, or Basque farm house, is a defining feature of the Basque Country. A self-sufficient family enclave, it did more than give the family a place to sleep and eat. For example, it held the animals, their body heat warming the rooms upstairs. The baserriak that dot the Basque mountains provide a distinctive charm […]

Basque Fact of the Week: The Concept of Being

The desire to understand what is real and what is not has been central to human thought for millennia and has driven some of our greatest philosophers to tackle the question: “I think, therefore I am.” There are two Basque phrases that epitomize the dueling views of being. On one hand, ‘izena duen guztiak izatea […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Selma Huxley Barkham, Basque-Canadian Historian

Today, it is well accepted that the Basques were early visitors to the coast of what would be known as North America. They established sites along the coast of what is now Newfoundland to process the whales they hunted and return the final product to Europe. With the local Native Americans, they created pidgin trading […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Etxekoandre, the Mother of the Home

Happy Mother’s Day! In honor of all of the moms out there, this Basque Fact of the Week is about the Etxekoandre, or the Mother of the House. Women have historically held a higher position in Basque society than in many other places, leading some to argue that pre-Christian Basque society was matriarchal, or, at […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Breakfast in the Baserri

Whenever I would visit my aunt and uncle in Munitibar, when they ran the Herriko Taberna, my breakfast always consisted of a pastry, often a bollo de mantequilla, and coffee. However, in the baserris they grew up in, breakfast was very different. I can only imagine that, even if food was plentiful, ingredients were limited. […]

Basque Fact of the Week: The Basque Farmhouse, or Baserri

One of the most unique and ubiquitous sites in the Basque Country are the rural dwellings that dot the mountainsides. With their red-roof tiling, their stone corners, and white-washed walls, they are an enduring symbol of the rural traditions of the Basque Country. Primary source: Wikipedia.

Reluctant Modernization by Andreas Hess

I just got this notice of a new book on Basque culture and was asked to spread the word. Reluctant Modernization: Plebeian Culture and Moral Economy in the Basque Country by Andreas Hess Publisher: Peter Lang, Oxford ISBN number: 978-3-03911-908-0 Three institutions that are of particular importance to Basque history and culture form the main […]