or in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 or or in Basque

Basque language

Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...

 are different names for the medieval neighbourhood of Bilbao

Bilbao

Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...

, part of the Ibaiondo

Ibaiondo

Ibaiondo is the 5th district of the city of Bilbao . Ibaiondo is a recently used name and in Basque language means Beside the river...

 district. The names mean Seven Streets or Old Town respectively and it used to be the walled part of the town until the end of the 19th century.

The Seven Streets

The name Zazpikaleak or Las Siete Calles (The Seven Streets) come from the oldest part of the neighbourhood which included exactly 7 streets and some much more narrow alleys connecting them, called cantons (kantoi, cantón). The historical seven streets of Bilbao are:

• Somera, "upper"
• Artekale, "middle street"
• Tendería, "shopkeeper's"
• Belostikale
• Carnicería Vieja, "old butchery"
• Barrenkale, "lower street"
• Barrenkale Barrena, "lower lower street"

The "8th" street is Ronda, which used to be the patrol

Patrol

A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as police officers or soldiers, that are assigned to monitor a specific geographic area.- Military :...

 street outside the walls. Later the town expanded northwards with the construction of the Plaza Berria or Plaza Nueva (new square) and the streets Santa María ("Saint Mary"), Bidebarrieta ("new ways"), Correo ("mail") and Askao. Nowadays the neighbourhood also includes the Ribera ("riverbank") street, the Arenal ("sandy place") Park and Esperanza ("hope") street as well.

The area is served by Casco Viejo station of the Bilbao Metro.

Tourism

The area is probably the most colorful part of Bilbao, including many shops and taverns, several historical churches (San Antón, Santos Juanes, the Cathedral

Santiago Cathedral

Santiago Cathedral is a Catholic Cathedral in the city of Bilbao that was officially declared cathedral in 1950. Its origins probably date to well before the foundation of the city in 1300, when Bilbao was little more than a small enclave of fishermen....

, San Nicolás), the largest food retail market of Europe (Mercado de la Ribera), the public Arriaga Theatre

Teatro Arriaga

The Teatro Arriaga is an opera house in Bilbao, Spain. It was built in Neo-baroque style by architect Joaquín Rucoba in 1890, the same architect that built the city hall...

, the seat of the Academy of the Basque Language (Euskaltzaindia

Euskaltzaindia

Euskaltzaindia is the official academic language regulatory institution which watches over the Basque language. It carries out research on the language, seeks to protect it, and establishes standards of use...

), a ball court

Pilota

Basque pelota is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall or, more...

, and a public library

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

. It is connected to the rest of the city and conurbation

Conurbation

A conurbation is a region comprising a number of cities, large towns, and other urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban and industrially developed area...

 by the subway

Metro Bilbao

Metro Bilbao is a rapid transit system serving the city of Bilbao and the region of Greater Bilbao. Its lines have a "Y" shape, with two lines that transit both banks of the Nervión river and then combine to form one line that ends in the south of Bilbao...

, tramway

EuskoTran

EuskoTran is a light rail tram service which operates in the cities of Bilbao , Vitoria and, in the future, in the town of Leioa , all of them in the Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the three commercial brands of the public society owned by the Basque Government, Eusko Trenbideak -...

 and buses

Bilbobus

Bilbobus is the name for metropolitan bus services in Bilbao.The service is owned by the city council of Bilbao. Operations will be transferred to Veolia Transport, the company that won the contract in May 2008...

. Three public elevators also connect Casco Viejo to the neighbourhoods of Begoña

Begoña

Begoña or more puristically but also more rarely spelled Begoina, meaning "the lower foot" , is a historical municipality of Biscay that was incorporated to Bilbao in 1925....

 and Solokoetxe, which otherwise demand a rather intense uphill walk.

There is a tradition of middle-age men doing a tavern crawl

Pub crawl

A pub crawl is the act of one or more people drinking in multiple pubs or bars in a single night, normally walking or busing to each one between drinking.-Origin of the term:...

drinking short glasses (chiquitos) of wine and singing choral songs.