Church of San Salvador

Considered one of the leading examples of the Gothic style in Gipuzkoa, this temple was declared a National Monument in 1895. The church of San Salvador, in its current state, essentially dates from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. Answer the late Gothic features, among which are the delicate tracery flanboyant of the upper gallery of the nave and the cover polibulada of the western facade. However, the core of the building shown later additions, as the main portal of the early seventeenth century and the bell tower, built between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. San Salvador’s history dates back several centuries ago, as two other temples, documented by the excavations in the crypt of the church, preceded the current: A first early medieval church, surrounded by a slab tombs necropolis, and a later, larger in which, in 1397, was founded the Province of Gipuzkoa. The temple walls also show the effects of fires and wars suffered by the town, especially during the First Carlist War (1833-1839), during which was badly damaged. After the war it was restored several times.

The temple consists of three naves, divided into three sections each. The presbytery is elevated. The different levels, which obey to the disposition of the land, call the attention. A splendid triforium surrounds the temple. It is fretworked on the inside. The vaults are ogival, very slender.

In this church the first General Meetings of Guipuzcoa were celebrated in 1397.