Astelena fronton

Historia

The Astelena fronton, nicknamed Cathedral of Basque Hand-pelota, is a fronton located in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, Basque Autonomous Community, Spain.Astelena is a short 41 meter-long fronton where hand-pelota and pala modalities are played. The field has a width of 11 m, and the wall a height of 9 m.It was inaugurated in 1904 and has been renovated on several occasions, most recently between 2006 and 2007, to meet current needs. The finals of the 1st Hand-Pelota singles championship (1946, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1960, 1966, 1973 and 1999) and the Cuatro y Medio Euskadi Championship final of 1992 were played at the Astelena.HistoryThe fronton was inaugurated in 1904 on the Feast of St John, the patron saint of Eibar, with a game to 22 points between local players Tacolo and Cantabria. In October of the same year, Francisco Irusta, a local resident, presented a project to cover the open-air fronton, which was signed and approved by José Gurruchaga, the municipal architect.Since the fronton was the only public closed space in Eibar, most important events of the town were celebrated there, including boxing matches, dances, cockfights, festivals, and dinners honouring specific people.In 1906 it was purchased by C. Aguirre, F. Bascaran, I. Irusta, M. Echeverría, M. Gómez, I. Vildósola, A. Eguiguren and B. Gárate.