Basque ethnography at a glance
Zeanuri (Bizkaia), beginning of the 20th century. Felipe Manterola Collection. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
St Mary’s Parish Church, Zeanuri (Bizkaia), is located in the neighbourhood of Eleizondo, and together with the hermitage of Compassion, the Cross by Nestor Barrenetxea and the cemetery, makes up an interesting monumental ensemble. The image of a hen gathering her chicks under her wing might help us visualize the complex.
The parish church is now completely restored and shelters one of the most remarkable altarpieces in Bizkaia. Throughout its long history the temple has experienced countless trials and tribulations, due principally to constant foundation problems, and had to be temporarily closed on more than one occasion, the most recent being in May 1994. Following major restoration, on 15 August 2000 it reopened for worship. (more…)
Slopes of Eneabe. Ubide (Bizkaia), December 1996. José Ignacio García Muñoz. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
Spring-summer transhumance and transterminance, both implying movement of flocks to high pastures, were defined and dealt with in a previous post published on 17 May 2019.
With winter approaching, herds are brought down from the highlands, since adverse weather hamper the stay. And as the vegetative growth of grass stops or slows down due to cold winter temperatures, and there is not enough pasture in the lower valleys, herds are moved towards coastal areas, where milder temperatures prevail, or to warmer innermost regions of the country, such as the Royal Bardenas, frequented by most Pyrenean flocks, or even as far as Ebro Valley. (more…)
Galdakao (Bizkaia), 1960s. MAXAM Foundation.
The festivity of St Barbara of Nicomedia is celebrated on 4 December. Because of her legendary association with lightning, Barbara is perhaps best known as the patron saint of armourers and dynamiters, miners and quarry workers, electricians, and artillerists. The Catholic Church named her protector against storms, hail and lightning.
It was once a widespread practice to light a candle blessed at Candlemas, on 2 February, while offering an invocation prayer for protection over the house. In Gernika, for instance, this or slight variants of it was said: Santa Bárbara bendita / que en el cielo estás escrita / con papel y agua bendita / en la hora de la cruz / santa muerte amén Jesús. (Blessed Saint Barbara / written in heaven / with paper and holy water / at the hour of the cross / holy death amen Jesus). (more…)
Grain drying. Armintza, Lemoiz (Bizkaia), 2019. Enrike Gaubeka. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
This is a follow-up of a previous post, published on 26 April 2019, dedicated to the cultivation and harvesting of maize.
Freshly-harvested, tender maize ears were roasted in the traditional wood-burning oven used for baking bread. Flour from oven-roasted maize grain (labartoa) is ideal for making flatbreads (taloak), typically soaked in milk or accompanied with pan-fried pork products (sartenekoa) such as chorizo and other fatty meat cuts. Maize flatbreads used to be toasted on a griddled placed over the glowing coals of the hearth (behesua) in the very old days, and on the kitchen stove (txapea) more recently. (more…)
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