Gaztelugatxe

On top of the island stands a hermitage named Gaztelugatxeko Doniene in Basque (or San Juan de Gaztelugatxe in spanish), dedicated to John the Baptist, that late discoveries indicate might date back to the 9th century.

With another small neighboring island, Aketx, they form a protected biotope that extends from the town of Bakio to Cape Matxitxako, on the Bay of Biscay.

In the year 1053 it was donated by Don Íñigo López, Lord of Biscay to the monastery of San Juan de la Peña (near Jaca in Huesca).

It was one of the places where the Lord of Biscay, Juan Núñez de Lara, confronted Alfonso XI, King of Castile, in 1334.

In the 20th century it was assaulted by English troops; in the Spanish Civil War the naval Battle of Matxitxako took place nearby.