Sanctuary of the Virgin of Arrate, Catholic sanctuary on Mount Arrate in Eibar, Spain.
The Sanctuary of the Virgin of Arrate stands on Mount Arrate above Eibar at 556 m. The 17th-century church has a single east-facing rectangular nave with a polygonal apse and Gothic buttresses, a square tower at the foot of the nave resting on four semicircular arches of ashlar masonry, and a large portico around the tower. A Gothic holy water stoup from an earlier building stands by the entrance.
Religious activity at this site was first documented in 1498, establishing a long connection between the location and local worship. The current building dates to the early 17th century and was constructed to replace earlier structures that once stood on this sacred slope.
The Virgin of Arrate is honoured as the mystery of the Immaculate Conception and was named patron saint of Eibar in 1928. Her feast is celebrated on 8 September, and on 15 May, San Isidro's day, the sanctuary also hosts exhibitions of traditional Basque rural sports alongside the religious services.
The sanctuary stands at 556 m on Mount Arrate, above Eibar; a cross marks the summit nearby. The surrounding leisure area has restaurants, a bar and a hotel, and the whole park is ringed by beech trees. The local radio station Arrate Irratia broadcasts from here.
The wooden barrel vault over the nave was built between 1577 and 1583 and is described as the first Renaissance work of its kind to break clearly with the Gothic ribbed-vault tradition. It is made of sixty arched ribs forming a coffered ceiling, with a polychrome rococo marquetry curtain over the presbytery.
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