Estella

Palacio San Cristóbal

The San Cristóbal Palace was built by order of Don Diego de San Cristóbal Ballesteros Eguía and his wife Doña María Cruzat y Jaso in approximately 1540. Its elegant façade stands out for its verticality and its brick composition. In addition, the stone doorway is protected by an alfiz from which emerge two small corbels sculpted with two men’s heads. A coat of arms adorned with fruit garlands represents the lineage of the San Cristóbal and Cruzat families.

The second floor appears by means of two balconies flanked by semi-balustraded columns supported by small atlantes that end in a frieze. This holds a curved tympanum decorated with sculptures of children who, in turn, support choreiform shields.

Basílica del Puy

The Basilica of Le Puy owes its name to the fact that in 1085, on the site it occupies today, an image of the Virgin of Le Puy appeared.

It was Royal Patronage, preserved by the Kings of Spain until in the year 1895 the Queen Regent renounced it, thus benefiting the Bishop of Pamplona.

Convento de Concepcionistas Recoletas

The Convent of the Conceptionist Recollects was begun in imitation of the Convent of Agreda. It was inaugurated almost fifty years later, on November 25, 1731.

Its facade is divided into three bodies at different heights, finished by a pediment that reproduces the forms created by the Carmelite architect Fray Alberto de la Madre de Dios, in the first half of the seventeenth century.

Convento de Santa Clara

The Convent of Santa Clara, built entirely of brick, is located in the place of Los Llanos, outside the walls of the medieval village. Its existence is known since the late thirteenth century, beginning the works that gave it its present appearance in 1635 and being completed in 1654 by Juan de Larrañaga.

The church boasts a simple Latin cross plan, with a well-marked transept and straight chancel. It is covered by a barrel vault with lunettes. A dome on pendentives can be seen in the transept.

Convento de Santo Domingo

The Convent of Santo Domingo was built in 1259 by order of King Theobald II of Navarre to house Dominican monks. However, in the year 1839 it became public property and, at present, after undergoing a major restoration, it has been transformed into a nursing home belonging to the Government of Navarre.

You can still see the remains of the church and a body of the monastery, both in the Gothic style.

Iglesia de San Juan

The Church of San Juan, located in the Plaza de los Fueros, was built in the late thirteenth century on a vineyard that belonged to King Sancho the Wise.

As for its original Romanesque style, only retains the cover of the nave of the Gospel since the main facade was restored after the collapse of the bell tower in 1846. This restoration was carried out by the Estellan architect Anselmo Vicuña, who added a neoclassical façade. It was finally finished by Florencio Ansoleaga at the beginning of the 20th century.

Iglesia de San Miguel

The church of San Miguel is very old, specifically we have to go back to the year 1145. It consists of three naves, belonging to a late Romanesque, the last quarter of the twelfth century and which highlights its head with triple semicircular apse. Above the transept stands a tower built in brick, a work of the early eighteenth century.

The building can be accessed through two doors, the one on the Epistle side and the one on the Gospel side. The first is very simple, not happening the same with the Gospel doorway, which is the real jewel of this church.

HOURS

From Monday to Sunday from 10:00 to 13:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00

Iglesia de San Pedro de la Rúa

The Church of San Pedro de la Rúa was awarded the title of Iglesia Mayor of the city in 1256. It can only be entered by a staircase built in the early seventies of the twentieth century.

The façade dates back to the first half of the 13th century and shows some Arab influence, although with Romanesque style decorations and vegetal, geometric and figurative appearance.

The façade has a Romanesque style and a vegetal, geometric and figurative appearance.

As for its structure, the space is divided into three naves, of which it is worth mentioning the Gospel nave, where the chapel of San Andrés is located, built in the year 1696. This chapel stands out for its deep ornamentation and for its altarpiece, made at the end of the 18th century.

Iglesia del Santo Sepulcro

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is located on Curtidores Street, despite not functioning as a parish since 1881. All the furnishings were moved to other churches to ornament its interior, such as San Pedro de la Rúa.

This is a temple with three naves, with only the Gospel nave having a semicircular shape typical of the late Romanesque style, specifically from the 12th century.

Muralla urbana de Estella

The urban wall of Estella was declared a Historic Site in 2002. Its creation was possible thanks to the fact that in 1090, King Sancho Ramírez granted the town the Charter of Estella. This fact was accompanied by a great economic development, making possible the construction of several fortified temples, highlighting that of San Pedro de la Rua, and other new buildings, such as inns, stores, hospitals, etc.

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Museo del Carlismo

The Museum of Carlism was created so that visitors can learn about the history of Carlism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through the dissemination, conservation of the documentation on display and its collections.

Palacio de los Reyes de Navarra

The Palace of the Kings of Navarre, also known as the Palace of the Dukes of Granada de Ega, dates from the 18th century and is the best example of civil Romanesque architecture in Navarre.

It is a beautiful building erected in the second half of the 12th century whose main facade is divided into two floors built in ashlar.

The lower body, at street level, opens through four wide arcades, framed by columns attached to the wall with decoration on the capitals of vegetal and historiated type. On the left side of the arcade there are stylized figures that narrate an episode of the fight between Charlemagne’s paladin, Roland, and the giant Ferragut. The second floor is covered by a wide gallery.

Palacio del Gobernador

The Governor’s palace, noted for its sobriety and horizontality, has no sculptural ornamentation beyond the heraldic coats of arms.

The Governor’s palace, noted for its sobriety and horizontality, has no sculptural ornamentation beyond the heraldic coats of arms.

The building stands on a stone plinth, built entirely of brick except for the window frames and the main door, made of stone, thus mixing different building materials, typical of Madrid architecture of Austria.

On the lintel of the balcony, which frames the main axis of the facade, the date 1613 is placed between coats of arms. But what really stands out about the Palace is the interior courtyard, divided into two levels supported by simple Tuscan columns.

Manantial de agua salada

This watercourse is located next to the municipal swimming pools of Estella and also next to the river Ega. It is a saltwater spring that flows from a rock, in a natural way, forming then a pool where we observe almost whitish water, due to the amount of salts in the water.

The inhabitants of Estella say that this spring has water with curative properties.

Fuente de Los Chorros

The Fountain of the Jets, also known as the Fountain of the Mona, is located right in the center of the San Martin square.

This Renaissance-style fountain, thus dating from the 16th century, is presided over by the figure of a lion with the coat of arms of Estella.

The Fountain of the Jets, also known as the Fountain of the Mona, is located right in the center of San Martín square.

Puente de la Cárcel

The Puente de la Cárcel, also known as the Picudo Bridge because of its two steep slopes, spans the Ega River.

The original construction was of medieval origin, although it was demolished in 1873 due to the Carlist Wars, in 1975 it was rebuilt again. At present it has a single arch with two slopes.

Iglesia Santa María de Jus del Castillo

The Santa María de Jus del Castillo Church is located at the top of the Castle Mountain and next to the Convent of Santo Domingo, specifically on the site where a Jewish synagogue used to stand.

The church is located at the top of the Castle Mountain and next to the Convent of Santo Domingo, specifically on the site where a Jewish synagogue used to stand.

Welcomed under the adoration of Santa Maria and All Saints, this church has a single nave, compartmentalized into three sections covered by ribbed vaulting and whose keystones can be seen figurative motifs. The apse, built at the end of the XII century, has an oven roof, standing out in its exterior for its Romanesque purity and the gallery of corbels with vegetal decoration. At the foot it has a baroque façade, added in the second half of the 18th century.

Antiguo Palacio de la Justicia

The old Palace of Justice, also the former Town Hall, was built in the 18th century on a splendid ashlar masonry, unlike the previous palaces of Estella, which alternated ashlar and brick.

The Palace of Justice, also the former Town Hall, was built in the 18th century on a splendid ashlar masonry masonry, unlike the previous palaces of Estella, which alternated ashlar and brick.

From its facade highlights the sculptural volume that has the arrangement of the columns, almost exempt, the bevels that flank the front door and windows, giving a slight mobility.

The facade ends in an attic that shows the influence of the middle zone of Navarra and a wide eave. In this one stands out the good ornamentation of young nudes, faintly modest, that let us glimpse sculpted forms with a certain classical tradition that recovers the essence of the Renaissance style.

Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Rocamador

The Basilica of Our Lady of Rocamador is located at the exit of the door of Castile, on the road to Irache. This place was frequented by pilgrims continuing to Compostela on the French Way.

Its construction dates from the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. From this stage only the semicircular chevet is preserved, preceded by a straight section covered with a barrel vault. The rest of the church is the result of Baroque additions made around 1691.