San Telmo Museum

San Telmo Museum in San Sebastián showcases Basque society, art, and history in a 16th-century Dominican convent, featuring over 26,000 pieces.

Planning your visit

San Telmo occupies a sixteenth-century Dominican convent at the foot of Monte Urgull in San Sebastián's old town, with a contemporary extension in perforated steel panels planted with vegetation so the new wing greens over and merges into the hillside behind. It is the oldest museum in the Basque Country, holding over 26,000 objects covering Basque society: ethnography, archaeology, historical material and art.

The convent church is the highlight, and not for religious reasons. Its walls carry eleven enormous canvases painted by José María Sert in the 1930s, in gold and sepia, depicting Basque history and identity — an overwhelming installation on a scale rarely attempted, and unlike anything else in the region.

The permanent exhibition covers Basque rural life, industrialisation, the Carlist wars, the Civil War and the modern period, addressing questions of identity that remain live.

The cloister is peaceful, and the location puts it minutes from La Concha and the pintxo bars of the Parte Vieja.

Bookable options include private tours and small-group formats capped at around eight people, some focused on the Goya holdings. Current availability is shown below.