**Suburb of the Towers** ::arrabal 
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The area surrounding the San Josepe Cross, located between Astillero Street and the old road leading to Itziar, preserves some of the most fascinating traces of Deba’s medieval past. Until 1970, the hermitage of San José stood here, and today the only remaining element is its beautiful 18th-century Baroque wayside cross. Carved in 1738, it displays an impressive collection of Passion symbols: the INRI sign, the spears, the crown of thorns, the ladder, the rooster and the lantern carried by the soldiers who arrested Christ.
This short stretch of street, once known as the “Barrio of the Towers,” was lined with several 15th-century defensive towers that marked the entrance to the Camino Real and the route toward the Franciscan convent of Sasiola. Among these stood the now-lost Zarautz Tower —from which Gothic doors and windows were reused in later constructions—, the Alós or Alostorrea Tower, inspiration for local legends collected by Araquistain, and the Sasiola Tower, residence of one of the most influential families of Deba and the Kingdom of Castile.
Despite fires and alterations suffered over the centuries, the Sasiola Tower still preserves original medieval elements such as pointed-arch windows and stone corbels. It was likely the birthplace of Íñigo Ibañez de Sasiola, member of the Royal Council of Castile and author of some of the most important Basque-language writings of the 16th century. Taken as a whole, this area forms a fascinating journey into Deba’s urban history and the fortified structures that shaped the medieval town.
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