Although the most avant-garde façadesand business buildings in Bilbao are to befound in the district of Abandoibarra, thecity has paid no less attention to any of itsother areas and niches. With the openwound left by the industrial restructuringof the late 1970s which reached a headwhen the Ibaizabal-Nervion River breached

its banks causing severe flooding in all ofOld Bilbao on 26th August 1983. Eventoday, one can see commemorativeplaques throughout the Casco Viejoreminding the visitor of the maximum waterlevel reached that fateful summer day whenOld Bilbao and areas adjacent to the riverwere inundated.

Bilbao’s Old Quarter, the Heart of the City

Two years later in 1985, hope was by thenrestored with the founding of the Urban Planningand Renovation Public Company of Bilbao(SURBISA), with the goal of the urbandevelopment of the Casco Viejo, which waslater expanded to the Bilbao la Vieja district ofOld Bilbao in 1994. In 2003, the City of Bilbaocommissioned SURBISA with the renovationof the neighbouring rail district of Zabala, whichhad been declared a degraded area by theBasque Government in 2002.

The ultimate objective of the development planwas not merely aesthetic, but was intended tokeep people living in these areas, attract newresidents along with improving living standards.Two decades after devising the plan, it can becomfortably said that not only has the originalgoal been fully met, but all expectations haveeven been exceeded. Today Casco Viejo is amagnet attracting locals and tourists alike withits varied and lively atmosphere of shops, barsand restaurants.

Wandering around the Casco Viejo we can find suchtreasures as the Neoclassical Plaza Berria, SantiagoCathedral, the Basque Archaeological, Ethnographicand History Museum in Unamuno Square, and theArchaeological Museum on Mallona stairway leadingup to the Basilica of Begoña. There is also MeabeSquare with a children's playground giving breathingspace to the heart of Old Bilbao where the GayarreTheatre stood for over a century, as well as the HolySteps Museum on Iturribide Street nearby. Finally,just a few more steps away in the neighbourhood ofAtxuri, we find the Dioceses Museum of Religious Art.