Calle 31 de Agosto (August 31st Street), San Sebastian

August 31st Street wears history on its stones, and not the cheerful kind. In 1813, during the Peninsular War, San Sebasti谩n was pried from French control by British and Portuguese forces led by the Duke of Wellington. The victory was short on glory: for seven days the supposed liberators torched, looted, and brutalized the city, leaving it a smoldering ruin. Only one street, then called Trinity Street, escaped the flames, chosen as the occupiers鈥� headquarters. Linking the churches of San Vicente and Santa Mar铆a, it became the lone thread connecting the city鈥檚 medieval fabric to the present.

After the ashes cooled, San Sebasti谩n began again. By 1817, reconstruction gave the Old Town a neoclassical order, straight lines replacing tangled alleys. Yet August 31st Street kept its cramped fa莽ades and narrow proportions, preserving the look of the city that once was. Each year on the anniversary, candles and hymns fill the street in a sober procession, a ritual reminder of both devastation and survival.

But memory doesn鈥檛 prevent appetite. Today the same strip that once held soldiers鈥� commands hums with the sound of clinking glasses and laughter spilling from pintxo bars. Locals gather for a bite, visitors pause between plates, and history lingers quietly in the background. To stroll August 31st Street is to move through two cities at once-the one that burned, and the one that rose again-while sharing a table in the middle of both.

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Create Your Own Self-Guided Walk to Visit This Sight

Sight Name: Calle 31 de Agosto (August 31st Street)
Sight Location: San Sebastian, Spain (See walking tours in San Sebastian)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

San Sebastian Introduction Walking Tour

Walking Tours in San Sebastian, Spain

Create Your Own Walk in San Sebastian

Creating your own self-guided walk in San Sebastian is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.

Mount Urgull Walking Tour

Mount Urgull is a promontory stretching out at the eastern end of La Concha Bay, surrounded by water on all sides, except the one linking it to the Old Town of San Sebastian. Historically, this mount, rising 123 meters above sea level, served as a strategic defense point for the city, attesting to which now are the remnants of old fortifications with cannons still in place.

From its elevated... view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.7 Km or 1.7 Miles

San Sebastian Introduction Walking Tour

After watching bulls run around in Pamplona, Ernest Hemingway took a relaxing trip up north. He enjoyed the calmness of the shoreline so much that he vividly described it in his novel The Sun Also Rises. The city that appealed to Hemingway was San Sebasti谩n-known in Basque as Donostia.

The city takes its name from Saint Sebastian, the early Christian martyr whose cult spread widely through... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.0 Km or 1.9 Miles

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