Given its position at the junction of the two galleries and the family gardens, this terrace might at first appear to have been designed simply as a thoroughfare. Yet the two beautifully tiled ornamental benches challenge that assumption and invite visitors to look more closely. Why embellish a space intended merely as a passageway? Or was this rooftop terrace perhaps always meant to be a destination in its own right?
This 255-square-metre belvedere creates a sheltered outdoor room, protected from the wind yet open to the sun and to sweeping views over the point where the Ibaizabal Estuary meets the sea. Since its restoration in 2022, it has also become a vibrant venue for cultural events and activities.
Behind the benches that give this space its distinctive character stands a wall that may once have formed part of the defensive fortification that crowned this headland from the seventeenth century onwards. Today, it provides a backdrop for concerts, theatre performances and talks.
