Zumaia (, ) is a small town in the north of Spain in the Basque Country. The town has two beaches (Itzurun and Santiago), which are of interest to geologists because they are situated among the longest set of continuous rock strata in the world. These formations are termed flysch and they date from the mid-cretaceous period to the present, a time period of over 100 million years. The K–T boundary is present at the Itzurun beach, and fossils can be found, notably of ammonites. The strata stretches along a distance of about 8 km, between the beaches of Deba and Getaria, with Zumaia lying in the middle. The town is also the home-turned-museum of the painter Ignacio Zuloaga. Exhibits include works by El Greco, Rivera, Zurbarán and Goya. Across the street there is a museum of craft and hand-crafted products of Laia. Within the city centre, the Basque-style Gothic church of San Pedro can be found. It has a temple with a magnificent reredos by Juan de Antxieta, the only work by this Basque sculptor found in Gipuzkoa. Zumaia is located at the point where the Urola and Narrondo rivers come together. The origins of the town can be traced by its ancient monastery. In the Middle Ages, the people who lived in the Sehatz valley having to endure the continuous attacks of pirates and pillagers, fortified the city. The church today retains the relic of its defensive appearance. Etymology It has been widely theorized that Zumaia's name comes from "zuma" or "zume", the Basque word for the wicker, a plant that apparently was plentiful on the area. And with regards to Villagrana, there is a theory that states the possibility to be related with "grana", meaning "seeding", that were produced by the abundant groves of evergreen oaks in that period. History Founding Despite the disagreements in certain aspects with regards to the origins of Zumaia, all historians agree that the villa emerged surrounding the Monastery of Santa Maria. According to the first preserved parchment in which is mentioned the place "Zumaya", the Monastery of Santa Maria had been a donation by a privilege of Sancho VI of Navarre to the Roncesvalles's convent in 1292. Despite the different conclusions about the emplacement of the monastery, the monks of the Monastery of Santa Maria the direct witnesses of the birth of this villa, after the inhabitants dispersed by the valley