August 29th

Art and heritage in Santesteban de La Solana: a valley to be discovered

Román Felones
LACS of Estella

The last week of August 2025, in the framework of the partnership agreement established between the Friends of the Way of St. James of Estella-Lizarra and the University of Navarra through the Chair of Heritage and Navarrese Art, the course "Heritage in Tierra Estella" was developed, which, over three cycles, aims to present the heritage of all the towns located on the side of the Camino as it passes through Tierra Estella. To the conferences in Estella, Mañeru, Cirauqui and Villatuerta in 2024, have been added in 2025 those given in Estella, Lorca (Yerri Valley), Irache (Ayegui) and Ázqueta (Santesteban de la Solana Valley). The last one, given on August 29 by Román Felones, vice-president of the Friends of the Way of St. James of Estella-Lizarra, in the framework the parish of San Pedro de Ázqueta, with a large presence of neighbors from the localities of the valley, is the one summarized in these lines.

Interior of the parish church of San Pedro de Ázqueta. The church was enlarged and remodeled in the 16th century.

The valley of Santesteban de la Solana

After listing the most significant titles in the geographical, historical and artistic fields, as well as atlases and encyclopedias, which have appeared in recent decades to initiate the study of the valley as an integral part of Navarre, the basic characteristics of the valley were presented in the fields listed. The valley of Santesteban de La Solana is a historical district of the Merindad and Judicial District of Estella, formed by the current municipalities of Arróniz, Barbarin, district of Igúzquiza (Igúzquiza, Ázqueta, Labeaga and Urbiola), Luquin and Villamayor de Monjardín. It has 101.7 km2 and extends, flanked by Montejurra to the east and Monjardín to the west, from the left bank of the Ega to the north to the vicinity of Sesma to the south. 

The valley maintained its administrative boundaries until the 19th century, when it disappeared as such. Until the municipal reforms of 1835-1845, the towns of the valley were governed by their respective justices, who were elected by their neighbors, with the exception of the mayors of the two villages of Arróniz and Villamayor de Monjardín. 

Suggestive image of the Jacobean route as it passes through the district of Igúzquiza. The physical path and the pilgrim constitute its two essential elements.

From the ecclesiastical point of view, the valley has historically been part of the archpriesthood of La Solana, in force until the last changes in the second half of the 20th century.

Today it is made up of five municipalities (Arróniz (1,068 inhabitants), Barbarin (46), the district of Igúzquiza (Ázqueta, Igúzquiza, Labeaga and Urbiola) (303), Luquin (132) and Villamayor de Monjardín (113), which gives a total of 1,662 inhabitants, far from the 2,347 reflected in Madoz's Dictionary of 1845. 

Given the issue of entities, for didactic purposes the valley has been divided into two parts: the Igúzquiza District, presented this year, and the rest of the valley, which will be presented, God willing, next year in Villamayor de Monjardín.

Ruins of the monastery of Santa Gema in Labeaga. The Gothic nave rises over a crypt dating from around the 11th century.

Some historical milestones of interest

This is an area that has been populated since ancient times, with the presence of prehistoric and Roman elements. Incorporated into the kingdom of Pamplona after the conquest of San Esteban de Deyo during the reign of Sancho Garcés I in the first third of the X century, the valley was closely linked to the four dominant powers: the lordship of the king, the episcopal lordship of the bishop of Pamplona, the monastic lordship of Irache and the noble lordship of the Vélez de Medrano de Iguzquiza.

The new villages were consolidated throughout the 11th and 12th centuries, dependent on the tenancy of Monjardín, belonging to the temporary lordship of the bishop of Pamplona, with urban centers consisting of a small Romanesque church with a single nave and a series of adobe houses (no more than 20) inhabited by serfs attached to the land dedicated to subsistence agriculture and livestock.

The valley of Santesteban was consolidated from the 12th century onwards, with slight changes over the centuries. The good 13th century was followed by two centuries of decadence, affected by plagues, civil wars and border fights with Castile. The 16th century, after the conquest of Navarre by Castile, was characterized by an economic, demographic and cultural improvement, as reflected in all the churches of the valley. The 17th and 18th centuries saw certain urban improvements and the appearance of noble mansions. In the 19th century the valley was seriously affected by the wars: Independence, Carlist wars and the Cuban war. The 20th century saw a civil war, a very hard post-war period and drastic changes in the second half of the century, with many economic and social improvements and a severe demographic decline.

The splendor of Urbiola's Renaissance and Baroque farmhouse is evident in this palace located on its main street.

The patrimonial inheritance received

After defining cultural heritage as the cultural heritage of a community's past, maintained to the present day and to be transmitted to future generations, and presenting the different types of existing heritage, the speaker stressed the importance of a property being considered World Heritage, the highest level of grade and protection. The Way of St. James, recognized as such since 1993, fulfills this status for its cultural, spiritual and historical value, including a network of pilgrimage routes that cross the Iberian Peninsula. This declaration includes the physical route, a modest path maintained through the centuries, and the artistic heritage linked to the Camino. Hence the importance of the Igúzquiza district, and especially Ázqueta, being part of this heritage.

The most complete synthetic study of this heritage is contained in the Catalog Monumental de Navarra. Merindad de Estella, Issue 2, pp. 161-176. As far as the religious heritage is concerned, the essential element is the churches, which have common architectural features: all four have a medieval Romanesque origin; all four underwent an enlargement in the 16th century, still with Gothic references; and all four have chapel additions in the 17th and 18th centuries. Regarding the common features of the movable heritage: three of the four conserve the Romanesque baptismal font; and the altarpieces correspond to the XVI-XVIII centuries, Romanesque, Baroque, Neoclassical. Santa Gema, a monastery located in the municipality of Labeaga, is a very unique building, the only church with a crypt in Tierra Estella, which unfortunately is included in the Red List of Hispania Nostra. 

Regarding the civil patrimony, the palace of the armory corporal of Igúzquiza and a series of Renaissance and Baroque mansions and palaces stand out. 

The valley, modest in its artistic heritage, presents in each village its specificities: in Ázqueta stands out the physical Camino de Santiago itself, a World Heritage Site; in Labeaga, the uninhabited village of Santa Gema, the oldest artistic remains: In Igúzquiza, the best preserved Romanesque church and the palace of the armory corporal; and in Urbiola, the best group of Renaissance and Baroque emblazoned mansions.

The neighbors and visitors filled the small space of the parish church of Azqueta, as can be seen in the photographs.

What do we do with our assets?

After a brief presentation of each of the groups listed, the speaker addressed a final reflection on the present and future of this heritage, especially worrisome in a rural area characterized by a severe demographic regression.

The current status could be as follows: The church is usually the most representative building and more directly linked to the report the neighbors. In a society directly linked to the religious, it has played a major role in the life of the village, as a test that almost all the neighbors over the centuries have been baptized, have been married and have seen their funeral in the parish. Historically, the church has been a living building, cared for by all the generations that have succeeded each other in the village. All of them have wanted to leave their mark with more or less success and, in general, have come down to us in good condition, giving as an example the church of Azqueta, the place where the lecture took place, clean, well cared for, and with exemplary maintenance.

But we are experiencing a drastic change characterized by a process of increasing secularization; a drastic decrease in Sunday Mass attendance ; an alarming shortage of priests and, consequently, a drastic reduction in worship.

What do we do with our churches, asked the speaker, to answer that it depends directly on us, the neighbors of the town, whether we are believers or not, given the religious, cultural and social dimension that the temple has. Consequently, we must be aware that they are ours and are at our service (regardless of ownership). This obliges us to know them, to take care of them and to bequeath them to our children and grandchildren in the best possible conditions.

A lively colloquium gave way to the final intervention of Maxi Ruiz de Larramendi, president of the Friends of the Way of St. James of Estella-Lizarra and Ricardo Fernández Gracia, director of the Chair of Heritage and Art Navarro, who delved into some of the ideas presented and closed the course this year, calling on everyone to continue knowledge the heritage of the rest of the Jacobean section in Tierra Estella in successive years.

General view of the Palace of Iguzquiza, with Monjardín in the background.