Sestao: Industrial History and Architecture

Explore Sestao through its industrial heritage, historic architecture and the different routes around the city. The preserved Horno Alto Nº1 provides a tangible reference point for its industrial history. By contrast, the Parroquia de Santa María and Casa La Galana showcase architectural features. Routes and guided tours complement these buildings with the history of work and a distinctive perspective on the Río Galindo.

Industrial History and Work

Horno Alto Nº1 was inaugurated in November 1959 and stands 80 metres tall. It is the only blast furnace of Altos Hornos de Vizcaya to remain today. The combination of its inauguration date and preservation status makes the blast furnace a precise reference point for Sestao’s industrial past. Its height also gives you a concrete sense of the scale of this structure.

The workers’ route “El Laberinto del Hierro: 5 kilómetros de historia obrera” tells the story of how industrial Sestao came into being, covering housing problems and new developments, labour disputes, factories and the city’s social spaces. The route therefore focuses on the connections between housing, work and urban life, rather than on a single building alone.

Architecture in Detail

The Parroquia de Santa María has a Neoclassical portico on the outside, with round arches resting on columns. Casa La Galana, by contrast, draws attention to its floor plan and dimensions.

Casa La Galana was built in 1892 to a design by Francisco Berriozabal. Its rectangular floor plan measures 38 metres long and 9.5 metres deep. Its length is exactly four times its depth. This proportion makes the elongated layout easy to understand; at the same time, the measurements complement the date and architect with a sense of the building’s spatial scale. You can thus appreciate the architecture at different scales: as a detail of a portico or as a floor plan with specific dimensions.

Routes and Guided Tours

The Camino de la Costa leads from the Barakaldo area along the right bank of the Río Galindo to Sestao. As route signs may change, check the current route before following them.

The routes have different focuses: the described Camino de la Costa route includes a river crossing and the town hall, while the workers’ route tells the story of industry and work. Depending on your interests, you can follow a specific route or explore the social themes of the city’s history.

The Sestao Tourist Office offers free guided tours of Sestao’s history and main sights one Saturday per month. Check the current schedule before your trip if you would like to include a tour in your stay.

Arriving at the Dársena de La Benedicta

There is a new landing stage at the Dársena de La Benedicta; according to a report dated 24 June 2026, the latest improvements there had been completed that month. The landing stage is intended to restore Sestao’s historic landing place on the Ría and encourage visitors to arrive by water. The Ría’s planned role in welcoming visitors is therefore another current point of reference for your stay in Sestao.

Discover more destinations: Elexalde, Gernika, Ortuella, Ondarroa, Butroi, Markina-Xemein, Gatika, Arrigorriaga

For the broader travel overview: Bizkaia.