Page 162 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2017 - Northern Spain

160  NOR THERN SP AIN REGION B Y REGION

(galleries) in each of its walls. are his bedroom and a chapel
Nearby is the entrance to the with a Gothic walnut crucifix.
unusual crypt – underneath Accord ing to legend, at diffi cult
its arches rises a forest of moments in the saint’s life, and
squat, completely unadorned on the anniver sary of his death,
columns. The kings of Navarra droplets of blood appeared on
are buried here. the crucifix.
The façade of the church The chapel walls are decor ated
is decorated with carvings with a macabre mural of grinning
of strange beasts, birds and skeletons, a depiction of The
human figures intertwined Dance of Death. Every year from
with plant motifs. The monks’ 4 to 12 March, the inhabitants
Gregorian chant during of Navarra make a penitent
services is wonderful to hear. pilgrimage to the castle chapel.
A church with three apses near the Part of the monastery now
Monasterio de Leyre accommodates a hotel.
w Sangüesa
0 Monasterio
de Leyre q Castillo de Javier Navarra. Road Map C5. * 5,300. @
n C/Mayor 2; 948 87 14 11. ( Fri.
Yesa (Navarra). Road Map C5. @ from Javier (Navarra). Road Map C5. _ San Sebastián (11–17 Sep).
∑ sanguesa.es
Yesa. Tel 948 88 41 50. Open daily. & @ from Pamplona. Tel 948 88 40 24.
8 ∑ monasteriodeleyre.com Open 10am–1:30pm & 3:30–6:30pm
daily. & ∑ santuariojaviersj.org Set on the pilgrimage route of
The monastery of San Salvador St James, this town was one of
de Leyre is situated high In the 10th and the main trading
above a reservoir, alone 11th cen turies, centres in the
amid breathtaking scenery, prior to the region. The
backed by limestone cliffs. construction of Iglesia de
The abbey is mentioned in the castle, a watchtower Santa María la Real, whose
documents dating from the stood here, to which new construction began in the
9th century; in the 10th and build ings were gradually 12th century, has a splendid
11th centuries, the kings of added. In the 16th century, Romanesque portal.
Navarra found refuge here Cardinal Cisneros ordered Preserved in the sacristy is
from the Moors. The abbey the castle to be redesigned a 15th-century processional
experienced its Golden Age in as a fortress, but in recent monstrance, measuring
the 11th century, when it was times the complex has been 1.35 m (4.4 ft) in height. The
reconstructed by Sancho III the restored, including its towers Romanesque-Gothic Iglesia
Great, having suffered damage and drawbridge. It now de Santiago el Mayor has a
at the hands of the Muslim houses a Jesuit college. battlemented tower. Inside, it is
general Al-Mansur. St Francis Xavier, a decorated with motifs
In keeping with Cistercian missionary and co- A crucifix in the of the pilgrimage
rule, the church is austere in founder of the Jesuit Castillo de Javier route – scallop shells
appearance. Of note are the order (and the patron (vieiras), walking sticks
three semicircular apses of saint of Navarra sports men and and gourds. A polychrome
equal height. The tower, built pelota players), was born in the stone figure of St James was
on a square base, has triforia castle in 1506. Preserved here discovered under the church.

The richly decorated Romanesque portal of the Iglesia de Santa María la Real in Sangüesa
For hotels and restaurants see pp206–7 and pp221–2

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