Vitoria-Gasteiz - San Miguel

On the north side of the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca stands the 14th century Gothic church of San Miguel, with a statue of the Virgen Blanca (White Virgin), patroness of the town, on the facade. The church, entered through a richly sculptured doorway, has a retablo by Juan de Velázquez and Gregorio Fernández on the high altar. In a niche on the outside of the apse, in the Plaza del Machete, is an axe (machete), on which the royal governor of the town was required to swear that he would act in the interests of the town, on the understanding that he would be beheaded with the axe if he did not.