Our final stop in Spain, right on the border was the town of Zugarramurdi.
It’s known for its witches cave. You start with a trip to the top of the hill to look out over the country, then head back down to Hell’s stream and follow the stream up into the caves.
The witches were really just the villagers who firmly believed in the magic of the land they were living on, and celebrated it with festivals and ceremonies.
Unfortunately the land owner, who was a follower of the Catholic church turned the villagers in for not converting to the correct religion. The Inquisition arrested 300 of the villagers for their ‘witchcraft’. 40 of them were taken for full judging, dispossessed of all their possessions, with 11 condemned to being burnt at the stake.
The site is important for showing what was happening across Europe in the 17th century as the rumours of witchcraft were spread so that different powers could take hold.