Basque ethnography at a glance

The holm oak is measured after the mass. Photo credit: Jon Urutxurtu.

St. Valentine’s Day, the day of lovers, is celebrated around the world on 14 February, but there are places where it is marked in a very particular way. One of them is the Eleizondo neighbourhood in Zeanuri (Bizkaia). This year they will celebrate it on 12 February – the Sunday before the 14th – with a modest, yet unique and engaging programme. It begins at 11.30 in the morning, with a mass at the Andra Mari parish church; a procession will then take the image of St. Valentine from the parish church to the chapel of Piety, where it will remain until the following year. The ceremony to measure the holm oak tree, standing in front of the chapel, will then take place. After the measurement has been duly recorded, the outgoing steward will pass the record book and the keys to the chapel to the incoming steward, who will be in charge of looking after the chapel throughout the year. The festivities will end with the barauskarria – a snack of bacon, pamitxa (traditional bread baked in the first batch) and wine – for all the people present.

The quaint ceremony of measuring the holm oak is particularly striking. That tradition dates back to 1959 and after falling into disuse, it was reintroduced sixteen years ago.

The current holm oak of Piety replaced the previous tree that stood there. The oak was planted in 1958; they measured it to see how much it had grown during the St. Valentine festivities of the following years; Ceferino Lejarreta (†) — an esteemed land appraiser – was entrusted with measuring it, an act which marked the end of the festivities.

Gregorio Lejarreta (†) and Igor Intxaurraga measuring the holm oak. Photo credit: Jon Urutxurtu.

As the older residents died off, the tradition fell into decline and then no longer took place for several years until the younger residents realised in 2007 that they could not let it disappear. They began to investigate and found information in Ceferino Lejarreta’s appraisal logs. The first measurement was made in 1959, and he wrote the following: “The measurement of the holm oak of Piety, in the mid years. Thickness at the height of 1.50: 0.18”. The last recorded measurement was by Cándido Intxaurraga (†) in 1999; a document was found in his house where he had written: “Piedadeko artea. 99-2-14. at 1.50 circumference: 1.50”.

In 2007, the local residents of Eleizondo decided to recover the tradition that their ancestors had begun and they started a record book in 2008, signed by the steward, the secretary and the person in charge of measuring the holm oak. From 2009 onwards, Ceferino’s son, Gregorio Lejarreta (†) was in charge of the measurement until his death in 2015. In 2016, Igor Intxaurraga took over from Gregorio Lejarreta and he, helped by his son Peru, has measured the holm oak ever since.

In 2022, the holm oak measured 191.30 cm in perimeter at the height of 150 cm. What will it measure this year?

Jon Urutxurtu