June 27, 2012

VISIT GUIDED

The report of the report, 1212-1912. Memories of a Centennial

Mr. José Javier Azanza López.
Chair of Navarrese Heritage and Art

In July 1912, Pamplona and the whole of Navarre commemorated the VII Centenary of the Battle of Navas de Tolosa, which since the middle of the 19th century had already proved to be an extraordinarily important identity event in Navarre's culture, whose symbolic value was evoked time and again by poets and writers, historians and artists.
The framework of the commemoration of the VII Centenary of the Navas was propitiated by the agreements adopted since 1910 by the Provincial Council, among them the adoption, at the request of the Commission of Historical and Artistic Monuments of Navarre, of the definitive design of the coat of arms with the traditional chains and the current flag of Navarre. Such agreements were reflected in the publication of official programs and brochures that included in detail the events of the Centenary, and invited all Navarrese to participate in the celebrations of a very varied nature. Together with the official documentation, numerous booklets and pamphlets were published that raised the epic and laudatory tone of the story even more, extolling the outstanding role played by King Sancho el Fuerte and his troops in the battle.
The solemn funerals held for King Sancho VII the Strong in Roncesvalles (July 12), Pamplona (July 15) and Tudela (July 24), marked the commemorative rhythm of the Centenary. The sacred spaces saw the erection of mournful catafalques, and heard funeral prayers for the soul of the monarch pronounced by eloquent preachers. Of particular interest was the sumptuous funeral that took place in the Collegiate Church of Roncesvalles, as it coincided with the transfer of the remains of King Sancho and his wife Doña Clemencia to the new mausoleum erected in the chapel of San Agustín, recently restored by the architect Florencio Ansoleaga, to which the exceptional stained glass window from the Mauméjean workshops in Madrid provided light and color.
 

Roncesvalles. Tomb of King Sancho el Fuerte in the chapel of San Agustín.
 

sponsorship Villava hosted a National Viticulture congress which, organized by the agricultural engineer Nicolás García de los Salmones under the auspices of King Alfonso XIII, brought together 1,500 attendees and achieved international resonance. The congress was held in the building designed by the Pamplona architect José Yárnoz Larrosa, an exceptional example in which eclectic solutions and Basque regionalism coexist. As a complement to the congress, a competition-exhibition of agricultural machinery was organized, in which the pavilions of the Casa Múgica, Arellano y Compañía, and the Casa Arrieta Hermanos were distinguished. José Yárnoz himself designed the "Besta Jira", a restaurant with its recreational park, an initiative of the engineer Serapio Huici for the enjoyment of congressmen first and then the people of Pamplona.
Along with the previous scenarios of Roncesvalles and Villava, Pamplona witnessed celebrations of a very varied nature: religious, among them the campaign mass and procession of parish crosses on July 16; cultural, such as the scientific-literary competition , whose submission awards ceremony took place on the morning of July 14 at the Gayarre Theater; military, such as the great cavalcade and retreta that, with its three historical-allegorical floats representing the Army, the Battle of Las Navas and the Monarchy, went through the streets of the city on the night of July 16; and recreational-sports events: A horse-riding contest, several cycling races, and the Great Aviation Week, one of the most popular shows of the time. The VI Social Week was also held in the Navarrese capital, with the participation of distinguished speakers who analyzed the main social problems of the time from a Catholic point of view, and was accompanied by a photographic-social competition with 25 collections and more than 600 photographs; Among the winners was the Capuchin friar Pedro de Madrid, professor of painting and photography at high school of Lecároz, for his exceptional collection of 24 typical farmhouses of the Baztán Valley, in which he knew how to combine domestic architecture and ethnographic testimony in equal parts.
The celebration of the centenary events was reported in the programs published for that purpose, as well as in the poster for the San Fermín festivities of 1912, whose historical-festive iconography came from the brushes of the Granada painter Juan García Lara.
 

Poster of the 1912 San Fermin festival. Juan García Lara. file Municipal of Pamplona.
 

King Alfonso XIII attended many of them, and on his arrival in the Navarrese capital on July 16 he crossed under a monumental triumphal arch paid for by the Chamber of Commerce and built by the architect José Yárnoz at the junction of Chapitela Street and place del Castillo.

Triumphal Arch erected by the Chamber of Commerce in honor of Alfonso XIII. Photo Roldán & Son
 

Once the centennial celebrations were over, institutions and collaborators received a commemorative medal and diploma as a souvenir. Commissioned by the Diputación, the medal was minted in Madrid by Bartolomé Maura, Director Artístico de la Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre; of sigillographic inspiration, it showed the equestrian figure of King Sancho on the obverse, and his heraldry accompanied by the chains on the reverse. The diploma was painted in watercolor by Javier Ciga, and represented an allegorical scene in which Navarre, escorted by a mace-bearer of the Diputación, was preparing to impose a laurel wreath on the personifications of Agriculture and the Arts, with the Palace of the congress of Viticulture as a backdrop.

Commemorative medal of the VII Centenary of Las Navas. Obverse. 

Commemorative medal of the VII Centenary of Las Navas. Reverse