Page 135 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Spain

BASQUE C OUNTR Y , NA V ARR A & LA RIOJA  133

e San Millán de pleasant old quar ter on the Río
la Cogolla Ebro is the Gothic cathedral,
with twin towers. Above the
La Rioja. * 240. @ from Logroño. south portal of the nearby
n Monasterio de Yuso (open Tue– Iglesia de Santiago el Real, which
Sun), Portería de Yuso, Piso de Abajo, hous es an image of the patron
941 37 30 49; Monasterio de Suso, saint Our Lady of Hope, is an
941 37 30 82 (book ahead). &
8 compulsory. _ Traslación de equestrian statue of St James as
las Reliquias (26 Sep), San Millán (12 Moorslayer (see p59).
Nov). ∑ monasteriodeyuso.org
Environs
This village grew up around About 50 km (30 miles) south
two monasteries. On a hillside of Logroño, the N111 winds
above the village is the through the dramatic Iregua
Monasterio de San Millán de Valley, through tunnels, to the
Suso. It was built in the 10th Sierra de Cameros.
century on the site of a com- Cloister of the Monasterio de Santa María
munity founded by St Emilian, la Real, Nájera
a shepherd hermit, in 537. The
church, hollowed out of pink r Nájera
sandstone, has Romanesque La Rioja. * 8,140. £ n Plaza de
and Mozarabic features. It San Miguel 10, 941 36 00 41. ( Thu.
contains the carved alabaster _ San Prudencio (28 Apr), Santa
tomb of St Emiliano. María la Real (16–19 Sep).
Below it is the Monasterio de
San Millán de Yuso, built between The Old Town of Nájera, west
the 16th and 18th centuries. of Logroño, was the capital of
The part-Renaissance church La Rioja and Navarra until 1076,
has Baroque golden doors and when La Rioja was incorporated
a Rococo sacristy with 17th- into Castile. The royal families
century paintings. of Navarra, León and Castile are
In the treasury there is a collec- buried in the Monasterio de
tion of ivory plaques. They were Santa María la Real. It was The ornate Baroque west door of
once part of two 11th-century founded in the 11th century Logroño Cathedral
jewelled reli quaries, which beside a sand stone cliff where a
were plundered by French statue of the Virgin was found in
troops in 1813. a cave. A 13th-century Madonna y Enciso
Medieval manuscripts are can be seen in the cave, beneath La Rioja. * 180. @ from Logroño.
also displayed in the treasury. the carved choir stalls of the n Plaza Mayor, 941 39 60 05.
Among them is a facsimile of 15th-century church. _ San Roque (16 Aug).
one of the earliest known texts The carved tomb of Blanca of
in Castilian Romance (see p38). Navarra, wife of Sancho III, is the Near this remote hill village
It is a commentary by a 10th- finest of many royal sarcophagi. west of Calahorra is Spain’s
century Suso monk on a work “Jurassic Park”. Signposts
by San Cesáreo de Arles, the R Monasterio de Santa point to the huellas de dino­
Glosas Emilianenses. María la Real saurios (dinosaur foot prints).
Plaza Santa María 1, Nájera. Embedded in rocks over-
Tel 941 36 10 83. Open Tue–Sun. hanging a stream are the
∑ santamarialareal.net & prints of many giant, three-toed
feet, up to 30 cm (1 ft) long.
They were made around
t Logroño 150 million years ago, when
dinosaurs moved between
La Rioja. * 151,000. £ @ n
Escuelas Trevijano, C/ Portales 50, 941 the marshes of the Ebro Valley,
29 12 60. _ San Bernabé (11 Jun), San at that time a sea, and these
Mateo (21 Sep). ∑ lariojaturismo.com hills. Prints can also be seen at
other locations in the area.
The capital of La Rioja is a tidy,
modern city of wide boule- Environs
vards and smart shops. It is the Arnedillo, 10 km (6 miles) to
commercial centre of a fertile the north, is a spa with thermal
plain where quality vegetables baths once used by Fernando VI.
The Monasterio de San Millán de Yuso in are produced, in addition to In Autol, to the east, there are
the Cárdenas Valley Rioja wines. In Logroño’s two unusual limestone peaks.

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