Añua

Añua

Elburgo municipality in Alava Province
Government
 • Mayoress María Natividad López
Elevation 564 m (1,850 ft)
Population (2007)
 • Total 31

Añua is a village in Elburgo municipality, in the province of Álava, Basque Country, Spain. The population of Añua had 31 inhabitants in 2007 but now the population has grown consecuntly. It is 564m from the sea. A very important building that is in the small village is the nativity church which was built in the XIII century, because of this ancient monument lots of people from the localities nearby come to admire it. There are also some old houses with architectonic interest, some of rural stile and others more modern from the XVI century. There is also a mill, which has a mthologic story which is told every Saint John's Day to little kids. The story is about a man who worked in mill. One day it was raining so hard that he couldn't move from the mill because he was scared, but it also was too dangerous to stay there. So he called the “Galtzagorris”, which are some small mithologic creatures that lived in the woods. These especial creatures showed the miller the way home while they sang. Nowadays it is very common to see people from other villages comeing to Añua to wacth the show. There are also some especial celebrations in the night of Halloween. This is prepared by the whole council. The Fiestas of the locality are the first weekend of September, the Nativity Day, which is the patroness of Añua.

Coordinates: 42°50′N 2°32′W / 42.833°N 2.533°W

Nativity Church

Añua is an old and small group of country houses which has inside it a parish temple which has a direct influence with the old Basque Santiago's way of the Interior and of artistic interest thanks to it's presbytery and it's abside from the XIII century. Experts place it's style in the transition between the Romanic and the Progothic. This convination presents a slender deecoration based on little columms, canes, blind sharp arches and splayed sharp windows, but with romanic vices. They also appear vegetal, animal and human carves. The rest of the temple is subsequent, and it's different elements were built-in in the next centuries. The entrance door in gothic, from the XV century, the nave and the Otazu- Guevera's Chapel are gothic-renaissance from the XVI century, the sacristy is barroque from the XVII century and the tower was rebuilt in the XVIII century. Inside what stands out are the mayor retable, from the barroque in the XVII century, and the Saint Sebastian Triptic from the renaissance, the XVI century. Nowadays, there are also some handmade representations of the nativity scene made by people from the whole council whch some are very impressive to see. Lots of tourists come every year to this small village in order to admire the old chruch and it's surroundings and to know more about it's history.

See also