Oiasso: Irun’s Roman past

The Oiasso Museum is the place to go to learn about Irun’s Roman history and its role as a port city in northern Hispania. Opened in 2006, it houses important archaeological finds that shed light on Oiasso’s importance as a trade and transport hub in the north of Roman Hispania.

The tour is organised into three topic areas (Impact, Port and Oiasso) which illustrate daily life in Roman times, from the local population’s first encounters with Rome, through to the trading activities linked to the port and, finally, everyday life in a Roman city. Its collections include fashioned organic materials, such as leather and wooden objects, which are rarely found in archaeological contexts.

The tour concludes at the ancient public baths of Oiasso, where visitors can see the original rooms with their hypocaust (the Roman heating system) and the original flooring of the frigidarium, as well as virtual reconstructions that show visitors how they worked and what they looked like.

The Oiasso Museum also offers visitors the chance to explore key sites such as the necropolis, Santa Elena and the Irugurutzeta mines, rounding off an experience focused on archaeology and the local area.

An unmissable tour on which to discover how the remains of a Roman city that played a significant role in trade and life in the north of the Iberian Peninsula still lie beneath modern-day Irun.