Azkoitia

• Name — Azkoitia • Type — Municipality • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — Spain • Subdivision Type1 — Autonomous community • Subdivision Name1 — Basque Country • Subdivision Type2 — Province • Subdivision Name2 — Gipuzkoa • Subdivision Type3 — Comarca • Subdivision Name3 — Urola Kosta • Elevation M — 113 • Area Total Km2 — 54.71 • Established Title — Founded • Established Date — 1331 • Population Demonym — azcoitano • Population Density Km2 — auto • Custom Label Sec1 — Official language(s) • Time Zone — CET • Utc Offset — +1 • Time Zone Dst — CEST • Utc Offset Dst — +2 • Postal Code Type — Postal code • Postal Code — 20720 • Area Code Type — Dialing code • Leader Title — Mayor • Leader Name — Ana Azkoitia • Leader Party — Basque Nationalist Party

Azkoitia and the municipality of the same name, are located on and around the upper Urola river valley, centered on a small alluvial plain surrounded by the Basque Mountains. Except for the valley itself, the terrain is rather rugged, with elevations ranging to little less than 950 meters.

• Illustration — A boulevard across the river from Azkoitia's old central square As of 2004, the municipality numbered 10,946 inhabitants, of whom 5,324 (49.867%) were men and 5,262 (50.133%) were women. Age is distributed among the sexes rather evenly with children and adolescents (0 to 17 years of age) forming 16.235% of the population, adults (18 to 54 years of age) making up 53.744%, and senior citizens forming the remaining 30.021%.

Azkoitia was the birthplace of the mother of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit religious order. Ignatius' maternal grandfather, Don Martin Garcia de Licona, had purchased Balda Tower in the mid-15th century. Recurring bloody encounters in the region persuaded the king, Henry IV of Castile, to reduce the tower from a fortress to a courthouse. On 13 July 1467 Don Martin's daughter, Dona Marina Saenz de Licona Balda married Don Beltran Ibanez de Onaz y Loyola from neighbouring Azpeitia in the Licona family home in Azkoitia. The original wedding contract still exists. Loyola's birth house is still preserved as a museum a part of a large Jesuit compound. It is located a few kilometers east of Azkoitia's city center, at the small community of Azpeitia, and is a major tourist attraction.