The new centenarian palace
The new centenarian palace
Palacio Urgoiti is, very likely, the hotel with the most peculiar history of the Basque Country. The building was built at the end of the seventeenth century in Galdakao. From its strategic location, it dominated the Arratia and Zornotza roadways, and was the scene of many events relevant to the history of Biscay – events in which Carlos de Borbón also participated.
In 1968, with the construction of the Bilbao-Behobia highway, the palace was expropriated and the authorities ordered it to be torn down. To save this jewel of palace architecture from destruction, José María Solano, the building’s owner, decided to take it apart and number it stone by stone, so that it could later be rebuilt at another location.
The stones were kept safe for decades, until the floods of 1983 –the worst in modern Basque history– partially deteriorated them, and the plans for the palace were lost, making it difficult to reconstruct the building.
The family did not give up hope and began the long process of sorting, classifying, and cataloging the stones, until finally, in 2004, the palace’s reconstruction began in Mungia, near the Bilbao airport. In its reconstruction, the finest materials were used and the original style and layout were kept.
Today, the Palacio Urgoiti is a magnificent luxury hotel with 43 rooms and suites, a restaurant, a bistro, and a golf course. Its new location –just ten minutes from the center of Bilbao– and its range of amenities have made it one of the most preferred hotels of visitors to the capital. Its Pitch&Putt par 3 golf course also attracts many Bilbao locals, who visit this oasis to enjoy special holidays.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the history of Palacio Urgoiti is that the building still belongs to the same family that first erected it in Galdakao and, four centuries later, in Mungia: the lineage of Adán de Yarza. They should be thanked for the fact that the building remains standing and that we can now spend the night in this new, centuries-old palace.
Palacio Urgoiti
Arritugane s/n, Mungia.
Tel.: +34 946 746 868
