Estella-Lizarra travel guide: the ‘Toledo of the North’ and a major Camino stop

Estella-Lizarra in 30 seconds

Around 14,300 inhabitants (14,329 in 2024, according to Wikipedia), 44 km south-west of Pamplona on the A-12 (Autovía del Camino). A stopover town on the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St James), on the banks of the Ega, a tributary of the Ebro. It borders the municipalities of Ayegui and Allín. Its Basque name, Lizarra, refers to the star that guided the pilgrims, according to the Navarre tourist board.

A little history

Around 1090: founded by King Sancho Ramírez, on the Camino de Santiago.

Middle Ages: the town attracts Franks from the south of France, Jews and Navarrese. The wealth brought by the Camino shows in a fine flowering of Romanesque art (San Pedro de la Rúa, the Palace of the Kings of Navarre). Its Jewish quarter, the third largest in the kingdom after those of Tudela and Pamplona, disappeared with the expulsion of 1498; the town is part of the Network of Jewish Quarters in Spain (Red de Juderías de España).

19th century: headquarters of Don Carlos, then the de facto Carlist capital during the Third Carlist War (1872–1876), until it was taken by the Liberals in February 1876.

What to see

The Palace of the Kings of Navarre

The finest example of Romanesque civil architecture in Navarre (the only one, according to the Navarre tourist board), built in the 12th century on Plaza San Martín; a national monument since 1931. On its façade, a famous capital signed by Martinus de Logroño depicts Roland fighting the giant Ferragut; other capitals illustrate human vices. A prison from the mid-19th century until 1951, it has housed the Gustavo de Maeztu Museum since 1991, devoted to the Spanish painter (1887–1947).

San Pedro de la Rúa church

A church raised up above street level opposite the palace, with a rich 13th-century doorway and a 12th-century Romanesque cloister, one of the finest in Navarre; a twisted column supports one of its arches.

San Miguel church

Probably built between 1187 and 1196 (Romanesque chevet with five apses, naves remodelled in the 16th century). Its carved north doorway, with Christ in Majesty surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists, is a major example of late Romanesque sculpture.

Santo Sepulcro church

An early 14th-century Gothic doorway, with the Apostles in niches and a tympanum in three registers: the Last Supper, scenes of the Resurrection and the Crucifixion.

Other churches

San Juan Bautista, Santa María Jus del Castillo (now an interpretation centre) and the basilica of Our Lady of El Puy.

Plaza de los Fueros

The town’s big central square.

The Irache wine fountain

In Ayegui, next to Irache monastery: Bodegas Irache has installed a fountain with one tap that pours wine and another that pours water. A Camino institution.

Irache monastery

The monastery of Santa María la Real, in Ayegui, documented as early as 958. A 12th-century Romanesque and Cistercian church, a 16th-century Plateresque cloister and a 17th-century Herrerian tower. It housed Navarre’s first university (1569–1824). Returned to the Government of Navarre in 2020, it still hosts masses and events.

Getting there

By car: A-12 (Autovía del Camino) from Pamplona
By train: no station any more — the Vasco-Navarro railway closed on 31 December 1967; its neo-Romanesque station is now used as the bus station and municipal offices

One-day itinerary

Morning: Palace of the Kings + San Pedro de la Rúa, then San Miguel + Santo Sepulcro
Lunch: in town
Afternoon: Plaza de los Fueros, then Irache monastery + the wine fountain
Early evening: back into town

My favourite photo

The carved façade of San Miguel in the low morning sun, when the Romanesque figures stand out in relief. Or the Irache wine fountain — a pilgrim filling a flask at the wine tap, a Camino ritual.

Sources

Ongi etorri Lizarrara — Welcome to Estella-Lizarra.