Las Gobas

Cave dwellings in the landscape of Álava

Las Gobas is a historic cave settlement in the Basque Country, where a series of spaces were carved directly into the sandstone rock. Dating from the early medieval period, the site preserves evidence of settlement and religious activity within the rural landscapes of Álava.

The rock-cut spaces include caves associated with both habitation and worship, creating a distinctive archaeological site within the surrounding countryside. Their position within the sandstone formations gives Las Gobas a very different character from the villages, vineyards and historic towns found elsewhere across this part of the Basque Country.

The GR® 38 Wine & Fish Route passes directly through the landscape around Las Gobas, making the cave settlement one of the historic places encountered while walking the trail. The long-distance route connects the interior of Álava with the Basque coast, following landscapes shaped by agriculture, settlement and the historic movement of goods between inland and coastal communities.

Exploring Las Gobas on foot places the caves within their wider setting of valleys, hills and rural settlements. Rather than existing as an isolated archaeological site, they form part of a landscape shaped by centuries of settlement, movement and connections between inland and coastal communities.