Camino Day 9: Nájera (17/03/15)

Nájera means “place of the rocks” in Arabic and this place name sums up the history and position of the town. Captured and controlled by the Muslim invaders after they entered the Iberian Peninsula and set up an Umayyad Caliphate in the years after A.D. 711, it was reconquered in A.D. 923 by a joint Leonese and Navarese army. This former Moorish influence shows that the legends of Roland and Ferragut, although mythical, have some basis in the reality of the long struggle between the Moors and the Christian kingdoms of Northern Spain. The old town itself is sandwiched as a linear settlement on a strip of land beside the Rio Najerilla with high sandstone cliffs pockmarked with cliffs behind.

In the 11^th Century its importance grew when Sancho the Strong, king of Navarre, made it his capital and the route of the Camino was diverted here from much more difficult routes to the north. According to Lozano, it was the first place to mint Christian money during the Reconquest of lands from the Moors. In 1076, however, it was annexed to Castille and Alfonso VI (developer of the bridge at Logroño) increased the town’s endowments, and made it an important stopping place on the Camino. Hospitals and hostelries were increased and Alfonso seems to have appointed St John of Ortega (more of him in future posts) to repair the bridge in the 12^th Century.

The most evocative tradition about Nájera and one to me which sounds like a story pulled straight out of C.S Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, concerns King Don Garcia, son of King Sancho the Great (the same king who founded Irache). One day in 1044 Don Garcia was out hunting partridges with his falcon, when it pursued one of them into a cave in the sandstone cliffs behind the town. When the king went inside the cave to find the falcon, he discovered a statue of the Virgin Mary sitting on a “terrace” of lilies, with a bell on one side and illuminated by a lamp on the other. What is certain is that later, in 1052, after capturing Calahorra, the king decided to found a pilgrim hospital and the monastery and church of Santa María la Real. The first Spanish order of chivalry in medieval times the “Orden de la Terraza” was founded to commemorate this legend.


Santa María la Real

David and I entered the town over the modern bridge built on the site of St Juan Ortega’s. We decided that we wouldn’t stay in the Municipal Albergue, but walk further along Calle Mayor and try Albergue Sancho III La Juderia, just because we liked the sound of the name! We found Bodegon La Juderia and went into the bar to ask for accommodation. The owner seemed extremely surprised, but led us out the door; it turned out that the albergue was not above the bar, as we had expected, but around the corner near Plaza España. The albergue accommodation was upstairs in an old stone house and although clean, it had a quite dated 1980’s kind of feel and was entirely empty – no other pilgrims were staying there and indeed when we checked the visitor’s book later we found that there had been no pilgrims stay there since the previous autumn. This didn’t bother us as we were tired and fancied another night by ourselves. Our only concern was how very cold and damp the albergue seemed as we had the feeling that the heating had not been on several months. The owner was friendly and we booked an evening meal at his bodegon for 8.00pm and then he left us after putting the heating on and we closed as many doors as possible to the draughty staircase and other dormitory rooms to try and retain the heat in our bedroom!

David was very tired and just wanted to shower and rest after our long walk from Logroño, but tired as I was myself, I was very keen to see the monastery and church of Santa María la Real with it’s royal pantheon of Navarese kings, and since it was closing in an hour’s time, I made my way straight over to it; a shower would have to wait – I was not missing this important Camino heritage site!

In 1079 Alfonso VI made the monastery a dependency of the abbey at Cluny despite vigorous protests and the opposition of the Bishop of Nájera, who moved his seat to Calahorra in protest.

Monastery cloister

Access to the monastery cloister was through the gateway of Charles V and beneath the dome of the Royal Staircase which leads up to the accommodation of the Franciscan monks who still live in the monastery today.

Going through the gateway I was struck by the extremely delicate beauty of the cloister with it’s ornately carved cloister windows adorned with filigree stone decoration in the gothic-plateresque style. Plateresque means “in the manner of a silversmith” and was an artistic style unique to Spain and its colonies. It started in the late 15^th Century and continued for two hundred years and whilst a modification of gothic, combined Mudéjar, Lombard and Tuscan Renaissance elements. It is characterised by floral designs, festoons and fantastical creatures. The cloister had certainly been built at the height of plateresque fashion going by the elaborate cloister.

Unfortunately, despite it’s beauty, the cloister and parts of the church have been badly damaged due to the vagaries of history. The monastery was used as a military barracks during the Napoleonic Wars and was vandalised by British and Spanish troops. In 1835, during the time of Mendizábal, who closed a lot of the religious establishments, the Benedictine monks were expelled and the monastery was used variously as a prison, a public works depot, a theatre, a barracks, a school and incredibly, even as a bull ring! It wasn’t until 1889 that it was declared a National Monument and the Franciscan Order were invited to live there.

Plateresque Cloister doorway

In the south wing of the cloister is the chapel of Doña Mencía López de Haro with her gothic tomb surrounded by other mutilated sarcophagi. Whilst I was examining these I was delighted to meet Toby, who was just leaving the cloister as he had arrived at Nájera a good two hours ahead of us. He invited us to join him and Andre from our evening meal, but I had to regretfully explain that we had already booked a meal at La Juderia.

Chapel of Doña Mencía López de Haro

Further round the cloister was the better preserved mausoleum of Don Diego López de Haro, Lord of Viscaya. His 13^th Century tomb is decorated with scenes from his burial and his coats of arms.

Tomb of Don Diego López de Haro, Lord of Viscaya

Entering the church I was pleasantly surprised by it’s size and lofty vaulting. Built in 1422 in the late-gothic style, it has three naves and a transept. The impressive retable dating from 1690 has a Riojan Romanesque statue of Santa María Real and contains replicas of the lamp, bell and lilies that Don Garcia was supposed to have found in the cave and below the crucifixion can be seen a statue of Don Garcia kneeling in the cave with his horse outside.

Near the transept I was captivated by the beautiful sarcophagus lid of Doña Blanca de Castille y Navarre. She was wife of Sancho “The Desired” and mother of Alfonso VIII, and died in childbirth aged 18 in 1134. Only the lid of her sarcophagus remains but it is full of expression and pathos, symbolic of the grief of her husband who ordered it to be carved and shows scenes such as the death of Blanca, her soul being carried to heaven by angels and the slaughter of the innocents by Herod. Near the lid are tombs of the Infantes - other lesser members of the royal family.

Sarcophagus lid of Doña Blanca de Castille y Navarre

The most interesting part of the church to my mind however is at the back where in 1556 a Royal Pantheon was constructed in front of the famous cave that Don Garcia was supposed to have entered. The cave is still there at the back of the church and by examining how the vaulting springs off the cliff wall and by looking outside at the back of the church I was able to see how the church building itself is joined to the original cliff face and the cave has been incorporated into the inside of the church.

Outside view of how church building is built
into original cliff face

Vaulting inside church built into the original cliff face

Entering the dimly lit cave I found the 13^th Century gothic statue of the Virgin of the Rose accompanied by a candle and a vase of white lilies and sitting rather incongruously on what looked like a hideous 1970’s era electrically illuminated “terrace” with lily motif which I have chosen to leave out of my photographs! Despite this strange intrusion entering the cave was interesting and brought to mind the chivalric deeds of the medieval Navarese kings.

Inside the cave

The kings themselves are lined up in front of the cave in 17^th Century plateresque tombs and come from two different dynasties; the Jimena of Abarca, who governed the kingdom of Nájera – Pamplona between 918 and 1076 and the dynasty of King García Ramírez “The Restorer” who was father of Doña Blanca.

The Royal Pantheon of Navarese Kings

Returning to the front of the church, I sat for a while examining the retable and was just considering leaving as I thought that the monastery must be closing, when a guide arrived with a tour group and invited me to join them as they were going up to the gallery above the pantheon to examine the choir stalls. I gladly joined them and although the guide spoke in Spanish, she gave me a leaflet in English. As someone who has visited many churches and cathedrals in the UK and Ireland, I find it surprising and curious the way Spanish churches have the choir stalls situated at the rear of the church rather than in front of the main altar. This of course, I suppose makes sense, as it means the view down the aisle to the altar is not obscured.

Choir stalls with effigy of Don Garcia

These particular choir stalls, although again, much vandalised, were a fine example of the florid gothic style. They were reached by a spiral staircase. Constructed between 1493 and 1495 by Jewish artists under the direction of Andres Amutio and his brother Nicolás who were residents of Nájera, the carvings contain a wealth religious and profane motifs – geometric designs, scenes from everyday life, monsters and faces, especially on the misericords where the monks sat. Above the Abbot’s chair a magnificent effigy of Don Garcia in gilded armour looks down on the stalls below.

As I was leaving the monastery I again met Toby, now accompanied by Andre and Heinz, who had a whiff of alcohol and greeted me in his usual enthusiastic manner. Whilst vigorously rubbing his thighs, he explained how his quadriceps were “f---ing sore!” (Andre, ever the gentleman shifted uncomfortably at this and smiled politely), how if it rained he was taking the bus as he was “here for a holiday” and waxed lyrical on the fact that the vino blanco was only €1.00 – “so much cheaper than in Germany – yes, yes!!” I have to say I liked Heinz a lot as he is just the sort of colourful character I enjoy meeting on the Camino. I suggested he had indeed been availing of the cheap vino blanco and he heartily agreed!

Misericords

Returning to the albergue after this wealth of historical investigation I had to come back to reality and finally strip off and shower in the still freezing-cold albergue (at least the water was now warm) before washing my clothes and arranging them on the gently heating radiators.

 By now it was about 7pm and whilst taking a short rest, it was pleasant to watch the local children playing in the street below and be reminded that despite the history of this small town it was still alive and and hot yet turned into museum like so many places I have visited.

David and I made our way round to Bodegon La Juderia and enjoyed a good meal and glass of wine. The usual rent a crowd of local young people swept in and out again and the owner was eagerly awaiting the start of the Atlético Madrid vs. Bayern Munich football match to begin, so we took our leave, not being particular football fans and had a walk down Calle Mayor to visit a vending machine and buy some items for breakfast the following morning.

Santa María la Real at night

I decided to be mischievous and suggested to David that he guide us back to the albergue. A bewildered look of slight panic came over David’s face as I knew he hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings, but relying on me for navigation! We wandered aimlessly around the small town for several minutes. At one stage David arrived outside the bodegon we had just left looking lost and helpless and much to my amusement the owner came out and pointed us in the right direction – I am sure he thought we were hopeless! Passing the albergue door without David noticing, I decided to put him out of his misery!

Despite the cold our sleeping bags worked well and we slept soundly in another empty albergue!

My hat with arbutus from Montejurra
& almond blossom from Ventosa