- This article is about the city in Spain; the Pablo Picasso painting of the same name is covered in the article Guernica (painting)
Guernica or Guernica y Luno (Basque Gernika-Lumo, pronounced in IPA [ger'nika]) is a small city in the Spanish Basque Country that was the meeting place of the Biscayne assembly under an oak tree, the Gernikako Arbola, which was a symbol of traditional freedoms of the Basque people. The oak tree, which had lived since 1860 died in June of 2004. The sapling which had been set to become the official Gernikako Arbola is also sick so the tree will not be replaced until the earth around the site has been refreshed. A 300-year-old petrified tree which was the origional Arbola can still be seen in its pavillion however.
Later a hermitage was built besides the tree to double as an assembly place.
The Lords of Biscay, upon receiving their title, would come to Guernica to swear that they would respect the Biscayne freedoms. Later the lordship became attached to the title of King of Castile.
Outside the Basque lands the city is best known as the scene of an early instance of aerial bombing by the German Luftwaffe (Condor Legion) on April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War (see Bombing of Guernica). The Germans were attacking to support the efforts of Francisco Franco to overturn the Spanish Republican government. The town was devastated, though the Biscayne assembly and the Gernikako Arbola survived. Pablo Picasso painted his famous "Guernica" painting to commemorate the horrors of the bombing. Because of its symbolic value, the current Autonomy Act of the Basque Country was approved in Guernica and every Lehendakari takes his oath there.
The Guernica estuary or Urdaibai is a Biosphere Reserve.
It is also home to the Gernika Jai Alai , one of the main courts for the jai alai sport.
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