The Building - AYA

The building in which the museum is established is the cultural centre Portalea, and is located in the centre of the town, near the church of San Andrés, at nº 10 of the street called Bista Eder.

Portalea is the former shotgun factory Aguirre y Aranzabal "A.Y.A.", which employed a staff of eight workers in 1914.

The multi-storey building, typical of Eibar, is of the rationalist industrial style. It was built in 1938 by the municipal architect Raimundo Alberdi y Abaunz. The premises were expanded between 1951 and 1960, since which the building has remained the same to the present day.

After the Civil War, in 1940, the company occupied the building and worked there up to the mid-eighties, when the premises became the property of the local council.

A.Y.A. adopted the lion as its symbol. One can be seen on the main façade next to the year 1996, which is when the building was reformed and reopened as a cultural centre under the name of Portalea.

The centre offers a variety of facilities: 700 square metres of exhibition space, a 113-seat auditorium, meeting rooms and workshops, among others.

The museum occupies the whole of the fifth floor of the building, with an exhibition area of 1200 square metres.