page_title: Alkiza
section_title: Parish of San Martin de Tours
hierarchical_section_title: Alkiza / Monuments / Parish of San Martin de Tours
caption_attribution_description: English: Saint Martin Church, Alkiza
context_page_description: Alkiza is a rural municipality in the centre of Gipuzkoa, northwest of the Tolosaldea County, in the Basque Country. It is 27 kilometres south of San Sebastian. In 2019 it had 373 inhabitants, of which 88.8% were Basque speakers. Alkiza is an independent municipality since 1731; previously it depended on Tolosa and San Sebastian.
  Alkiza is connected with Anoeta and Asteasu through the GI-3630 road. The Asteasu branch was inaugurated in 1952 and the Anoeta branch in 1957. Until then, farm roads and paths linked Alkiza with the nearby villages.
  The village is 340 meters above sea level and there are the school, the town hall, the pelota-court and the parish church. The municipality has more than 40 scattered farms and houses.
  Its inhabitants are nicknamed in Basque oiloak.
  The village's main festival is on September 8.
context_section_description: The parish church of San Martin de Tours is Gothic in style and it acquired its current form in the second half of the 16th century.  The original building lacked a tower that was built in the 17th century.
  The original altarpiece of the church has been historically attributed by some experts to the well-known sculptor Joanes Antxeta. However, new data showed that the author was the sculptor Joanes de Arbeiza. Anyway, it is documented that Antxeta was called to Alkiza on the issue of the altarpiece; the main hypothesis being that he only worked as a consultant.
  From that same time is the tabernacle of the church, the work is the of the local sculptor Ambrosio Bengoetxea. It is currently housed in the Diocesan Museum of San Sebastián, where it was brought to be restored in the early 1980s.
  The tower and sacristy of the church were built between 1688 and 1700.
  The current altarpiece of the church is the work of Miguel de Irazusta, a local architect based in Madrid. He received the order in 1724 and ended it with his appointment as the town's first mayor. At the time of the parish priest Juan de Irazusta, Miguel's cousin, between 1755 and 1772, some significant improvements were made in the church: the choir arch, the new church floor and the portico were built and a clock was installed in the tower. This clock was reformed in 1841 and 1932.
  The church organ dates from 1928.
  Between 1998 and 2000 the church of San Martín underwent a profound restoration that was partly financed with funds from the European Union.
caption: Parish of San Martín de Tours
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