Parque Natural de Pagoeta 20809 Aia- Guipuzkoa.
This botanical garden belongs to the Parque Natural of Pagoeta. The purpose of this park, according to the Diputación Foral of Guipúzkoa, who are responsible for it, is to familiarise the Basque population with the rural life of the area.
For this purpose a 15th century country house has been turned into an Information Centre which describes, in a permanent exhibition, the lifestyle of the local peasants and the use of snow stores, limestone quarries and smithies that can be found restored all along the paths of the Park.
In turn, the 25 hectares of the Iturraran Botanical garden are divided into 8 different areas in which we can find species belonging to 130 botanical families, distributed according to climate and origin. Together with these we can find copses of autoctonous trees including oaks, chestnuts and holm oaks amongst other local varieties, many of them threatened or in danger of extinction.
Another way of combining the festive and educational, typical of this park, is the celebration of the Spring Plant Markets. In these markets people can buy a variety of plants and at the same time meet the growers in person.
However, we must never forget that enjoying the beauty of the park is as important as all the previous activities. You just have to walk along the pathways of the park, if possible in autumn.
