Azkoitia

Azkoitia
Municipality
Azkoitia's central square, with Paroquia Santa Maria La Real
Coat of arms
Azkoitia Location of Azkoitia within the Basque Autonomous Community
Coordinates: 43°10′45″N 2°18′38″W / 43.17917°N 2.31056°W / 43.17917; -2.31056
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Basque Country
Province	Gipuzkoa
Comarca	Urola Kosta
Founded	1331 (1331)
Government
• Mayor	Ana Azkoitia (Basque Nationalist Party)
Area
• Total	54.71 km2 (21.12 sq mi)
Elevation	113 m (371 ft)
Population  (2018)[1]
• Total	11,609
• Density	210/km2 (550/sq mi)
Demonym	Spanish: azcoitano
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	20720
Website	Official website

Azkoitia (Spanish: Azcoitia) is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, in northern Spain. It is also the seat of the municipality of the same name.

Azkoitia and the municipality of the same name, are located on and around the upper Urola river valley, centered on a small alluvial plain surrounded by the Basque mountains. Except for the valley itself, the terrain is rather rugged, with elevations ranging to little less than 950 meters.

As of 2004^[1], the municipality numbered 10,946 inhabitants, of whom 5,324 (49.867%) were men and 5,262 (50.133%) were women. Age is distributed among the sexes rather evenly with children and adolescents (0 to 17 years of age) forming 16.235% of the population, adults (18 to 54 years of age) making up 53.744%, and senior citizens forming the remaining 30.021%.

Azkoitia was the birthplace of the mother of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit religious order. Ignatius' maternal grandfather, Don Martin Garcia de Licona, had purchased Balda Tower in the mid-15th century. Recurring bloody encounters in the region persuaded the king, Henry IV of Castile, to reduce the tower from a fortress to a courthouse. On 13 July 1467 Don Martin's daughter, Dona Marina Saenz de Licona Balda married Don Beltran Ibanez de Onaz y Loyola from neighbouring Azpeitia in the Licona family home in Azkoitia. The original wedding contract still exists.

Loyola's birth house is still preserved as a museum a part of a large Jesuit compound. It is located a few kilometers east of Azkoitia's city center, at the small community of Azpeitia, and is a major tourist attraction.

• José Larrañaga Arenas

• Official Website Information available in Spanish and Basque.
• AZKOITIA in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa) Information available in Spanish

1. ^ Demographics for all Basque municipalities

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