This is the parish church of Markina-Xemein. At first there must have been a monastery, but the church was built at the end of the 16th century. It belongs to the hall-church or hallenkirche model, as it is known in Germany. (It is also known as a “Basque Gothic” church).
The church of Xemein is one of the National Monuments of the Basque Country and is the largest church in the Basque Country.
Attached to the parish church of Xemein, the cemetery is built under the Neo-Classical style, in which the mausoleum of Xabier María de Munibe, 11th Count of Peñaflorida, stands out. It was designed by the architect M.J. Laskurain in neoclassical style with neo-Greek and neo-Egyptian elements.
The cemetery has also been declared a National Monument of the Basque Country. It was built next to the church of Santa María and is organised like a Greco-Roman rural villa: around a courtyard with a porticoed space. A longitudinal axis divides the enclosure and connects the doorway with the chapel. The Xemein cemetery is clearly reminiscent of Pompeian houses, due above all to the peristyle with its series of columns – ten on each side and six on the smaller side.
Cemetery opening hours: Monday to Friday: 15.30-20.00
Weekend: 10.00-22.00
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