When the Villa de Bilbao was founded more than 700 years ago, its inhabitants lived from irrigation and fishing, and the Ría was already beginning to be the best communication route with the outside world.

At that time there were two population centers of different character: on the one hand, the left bank or Bilbao la Vieja, which was a mining area where iron was worked in the foundries. And on the other, the town on the right bank, called Casco Viejo, dedicated to commercial and port traffic.

* In this image you can see the Mercado de la Rivera next to the Ría de Bilbao.

The heart of that Casco Viejo was surrounded by walls and formed by three parallel streets. Some time later it became necessary to tear down the walls and draw four more perpendicular streets to the estuary which, together with the first three, make up what is now known as the Seven Streets. Since 1979, this area is pedestrianized, becoming a 240,000 square meter commercial center, with hundreds of commercial establishments, bars and restaurants.

In memory, the greatest catastrophe that the city of Bilbao has suffered, the floods of 1983, which devastated the old town until it was completely destroyed. Despite the devastation, the Old Quarter managed to resurface and become one of the most tourist and commercial areas of the city.

* In this image we can see a central area of the Old Town crowded with people, with the stairs to Begoña, the subway station and the Museum of Archeology.

Initially, only three streets were built, surrounded by walls. After its demolition, four more streets were drawn up to the seven streets that give it its name today. In 1979 it was decided to convert the entire area into a pedestrian space to facilitate commercial activity. You cannot stop strolling through its streets that have hundreds of establishments, bars and restaurants where you can taste the traditional "Pintxos" or miniature cuisine. Do not be surprised if on your way you come across groups with a glass of wine in hand, the traditional Txikito, who begin to sing popular melodies. Inside the Old Town there is also the Plaza Nueva, neoclassical in style and with a rectangular shape dating from the 19th century. The most historic streets of the town also house small museums of an ethnographic nature, such as the Pasos de Semana Santa, the Basque Museum, the Archaeological Museum or the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art.

http://www.bilbaoturismo.net

* In this image we find people walking through the Casco Viejo, taken from the beginning of the stairs to Begoña.