Ujué

The sanctuary, the fortress and the village of Ujué are located on the top of a hill overlooking the area averageof Navarre. Human settlement in this place has been documented since before Roman times, although the current settlement arose at the end of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century around a fortress, an outpost of defence of the kingdom of Pamplona against Islam, which was demolished after the conquest of Navarre by Charles I. The church was built around the same time, and underwent various remodelling works throughout history until it took on its current appearance. As is usual in medieval sanctuaries, its foundation is linked to the miraculous event of the findingof the image of the Virgin, in this case with the financial aidof a dove, from which it derives its name, which guided a peasant to the cave where it had been hidden to save it from the Muslim invasion. Although it is not known for certain, the granting of the regional lawto Ujué in 1076 is attributed to King Sancho Ramírez, who would also donate the church, along with other Navarrese temples, to the monastery of Montearagón in 1093, a dependency that continued until 1385. Throughout the Middle Ages, averagesuffered various vicissitudes that almost caused it to be depopulated, but the kings of the House of Evreux granted it various privileges. This dynasty was closely linked to the Sanctuary and the Virgin of Ujué, a relationship attested to by the wish of Charles II that his heart be deposited in the sanctuary, by the gift of a silver and enamel chalice by Charles III, now in the Museum of Navarre, and by the continuous pilgrimages and pilgrimages of Blanca I, who in 1436 instituted novenas to the Virgin, arranging to be buried at the feet of the Virgin.