Why go
The two names appear side by side in local life, so recognizing them helps when reading signs and place names. The name also points west to the historic monastery of San Sebastián el Antiguo, associated with the Antiguo district rather than today’s old town.
The full story
The Spanish name San Sebastián refers to Saint Sebastian. A monastery dedicated to him stood in the area now called Antiguo and appears in early medieval records. Donostia also refers to the saint, but scholars propose different steps by which an older Basque form shortened into the present name. The first element is commonly linked to a Basque form meaning “saint”; the precise sequence of changes remains a hypothesis. Donostia and San Sebastián are the city’s Basque and Spanish forms. You may also see Donosti in informal use. A resident is a donostiarra in both languages. These names are a reminder that the city’s story begins west of the streets now called Parte Vieja, even though the fortified town later grew beneath Urgull.