The town of Bergara’s origins lie in the 13th century around the site of the parish of San Pedro de Ariznoa.
The temple we can now admire was built on the foundations of a previous church, being erected in four stages that ran from the final decades of the 15th century through to 1620.
The beautiful, slender Baroque tower (1742) was designed by the architect José de Lizardi; it is undoubtedly one of his finest creations. Among the numerous works of art that grace the church’s interior, we should mention the high altarpiece in the Plateresque style (1535-1540), one of the first Renaissance altarpieces to be made in the Basque Country. Dating from the 17th century is the Christ on the Cross - Santo Cristo de la Agonía, located in the chapel of the same name, and beneath the choir.
Note: If you want to visit the Christ, please call to make a prior appointment, as the church is not always open.
In 1622, Juan Pérez de Irazabal, a local man who had settled in Seville, commissioned the sculptor Juan de Mesa to carve this figure. Beautifully made with a heart-rendering expression, the Christ of Bergara has been hailed by numerous experts and critics as one of the world’s finest examples of Baroque imagery. The church also has an exceptional Romantic organ built by the firm Stoltz-Frères in 1889.