During one of the biggest witch trials in Spain, there was one place that was thought to be more filled with witchcraft than others. In the so-called Witch Caves of Zugarramurdi in the Basque country, it was said that witches gathered for sabbaths and akellares.
The witch hunt hit Europe hard, and Spain was no different. The Inquisition in Spain was brutal and perhaps one of the darkest chapters in the history of the country. The church and its helpers took everyone that the catholic deemed inappropriate, witches, heretics alike.
In Navarre, north in the country close to the French border, the forest of the Pyrenees grew thick and legends, strange rites and rumors of witches were especially strong there.
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Especially in the deep darkness of the caves of Zugarramurdi the haunted legends from the past echoes throughout the walls of the cave. You can find them just 400 meters from the village through the woods.
Inside of the 120 meters long cave that towers over 10 meters is the stream called Oblabidea that runs through it. The stream was also known as Infernuko Erreka, or the stream of hell and was a perfect place for the witches to hold their sabbats.
The Magical and Mysterious Basque Country
Already in the 1100s, the Basque country was described as barbaric and mysterious from southern Spain’s perspective. The place was also a misty and heavily wooded terrain with few people that spoke a foreign and as they describe it, harsh sounding language.
Belief in witches were actually quite low compared to the rest of Europe at that time, and the educated Spaniards saw witchcraft as a protestant superstition as well as something only the “uneducated” northerners believed in. Still, being accused as a witch was a very deadly thing as the people of Zugarramurdi would soon find out.
The Tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition in Logrono received intel that there were witches and wizards in Zugarramurdi and became involved in one of the most brutal and biggest witch hunts in Spanish history with over 7000 investigated for witchcraft.
In 1610 take came to Zugarramurdi that means the hill of elm trees to investigate the suspicions. The people of Zugarramurdi had long traditions of making creams and herbal medicine that were unknown to the rest of the country. There were also more women as the men were at sea for months on whaling boats, something that the authorities saw as unfortunate and suspicious with villagers filled with women going on about their days with the men away.
There were also the strange things that the number of stillborns were abnormally higher than the rest of Spain. This has turned out to be because the Basques have a very high percentage of Rhesus Negative blood. Although we today have a scientific explanation on it, they used to think they were cursed.
The Witch Trials of Zugarramurdi
It all started when a 20-year old girl came back to the town after living many years in France. For some reason she started to tell everyone that she had been one of those participating in Akelarres, or the witch sabbaths.
Then she started to involve more people and claimed that a woman named Maria de Jureteguis had been involved as well. This is when things escalated and more and more of the locals started to accuse each other for witchcraft.
Over 300 became involved in the investigation, almost the whole village. The witch hunters rounded up over 40 women and men that the neighbors had accused and brought them back to Logorno to await trial.
Many of them repented and were let go in the end, but some of them were tortured for months and five died in prison. There were 7 that were burned at the stake.
When the trial had ended all of them were dragged through the streets with no hair and big wax candles in their hands. A lot of them were wearing a tunic called sanbenitos to show people that they had sinned. Some had a rope around their necks to show they were about to be flogged. The remains of those that died were carried to the pyre and four women and two men were burned as they kept denying they were witches.
Their names were Domingo de Subildegui, María de Echachute, Graciana Xarra, Maria Baztan de Borda, Maria de Arburu and Petri de Joangorena. Not all of them were from Zugarramurdi town, but were all condemned for participating in the witch sabbath there.
It was the notorious Inquisitor Valle-Alvardo who came to town and rounded up everyone they thought looked and seemed out of sorts as a last effort to root out evil from Navarre in what became known as the Basque Witch Trials.
A madness and witch fever because of what happened were getting out of hand and thousands upon thousands were accused of witchcraft all across the country. A man went back to Zugarramurdi and spent 18 months talking with them. It turned out that most of the accusations were false, but alas, for many it was already too late.
Akelarre – the Spanish Witch Sabbath
Akelarre literally means the pasture of the he-goat in Basque, and according to the tribunal it was where the witches met up with Satan. Today the word is synonymous with Witch Sabbath in Spain.
The Akelarre and the witch sabbath lore seems to have been the pagan remains of the rituals from before christianity. This type of female worship in groups has been done since the classical Greece times when worshiping Dionysus, perhaps even before.
People over Europe were accused of these types of gatherings, but if there was actually anyone doing it is highly uncertain, even though pagan remains of the past have lasted for a much longer time in remote places than the church would have liked it to.
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Some of the things the accused witches of Zugarramurdi werre thought to do was demonic possession, vampirism, celebrating black masses and causing storms, as well as cursing the fields and animals among other things.
The Witches in the Caves
Why was it that there were so many accused of witchcraft right here in this quaint little village? Some of it had to do with the rumors of the caves nearby where people claimed to have seen big bonfires and pagan festivities by the locals, the witches.
According to legend, the rest of the witches of Zugarramurdi went into hiding in some caves outside of the town after their time on trial. To get away from the town that wanted them dead and gone. Perhaps it was to practice their rites and witchcraft in peace, far from the deadly hands of the inquisition?
The story goes that you can still hear the echoes of their magical chanting and dancing around the fires.
Inside of it they have a throne room, where the devil himself would join the witches during the sabbath.
The Witch Caves of Zugarramurdi Today
Today it is still an important place for the modern-day witches in Spain and they honor the reputation and the magical place of Zugarramurdi and the caves people once thought were a place for devil worship.
The town of Zugarramurdi also established the witch museum to remember the town’s dark past and holds yearly fests in the famous cave.
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