Destinations Menu
RSS
4 Of 5
Nájera
Nájera
Two cities warrant attention on La Rioja’s stretch of the Camino de Santiago, the 1,000-year-old pilgrimage route to the relics of St. James in Galicia’s Santiago de Compostela. The towns of Nájera and Santo Domingo de la Calzada, each with impressive monasteries, have welcomed famished pilgrims since 1016, the year King Sancho rerouted the southern, Jacobean way to pass through La Rioja.
From 918 to 1076 Nájera was the Royal seat of the Kingdom of Pamplona-Nájera and, as such, the lead political center during the early stages of the Christian Reconquest. Around this time, the Moors reoccupied the nearby town of Calahorra, spreading fears among the royals of Nájera that an attack was imminent. Legend holds that, while hunting one afternoon, the falcon of King García Sánchez III flew into a cave after a partridge; when the King chased after it, he was witness to an image of the Virgin Mary with child, which the king took as a sign he would be victorious in the pending battle. Once he had defeated the Moors and retaken the town of Calahorra, the king ordered that the Monasterio de Santa María la Real be constructed at the site of the cave. The cave is preserved at the foot of the nave of the present 16th-century Gothic monastery. A royal pantheon bears 12 tombs of kings and queens from the dynasties of the 10th and 11th centuries, while in the Gothic cloister with its notable plateresque tracery, later kings have been laid to rest.
Explore the Destination
Amenities and Resources
Overview
Hotels(8)
Restaurants(2)
Attractions(6)
Activities(4)
Wineries(3)
Map 
Weather Forecast
- Reported on:
Fri, 04/19/2024 - 15:30
- Reported on:
Trending Themes:
Guides to Popular Ski Resorts
-
Ischgl is a small mountain village turned hip ski resort, with massive appeal among the party-hearty young crowds. It is... Read More
-
Andorra la Vella is its own little world, and not just because it’s a 290-square-mile independent principality (a fifth the... Read More
-
Bariloche (officially San Carlos de Bariloche) is the place to be seen. It is to Argentina what Aspen is to the... Read More
-
Aspen is America's most famous ski resort. And that's an understatement. For, as a ski complex, Aspen is unsurpassed. Its... Read More
-
Zermatt is a small but glamorous mountain resort town, with a population of approximately 5,700. It is one of Switzerland's... Read More
-
St. Moritz is a glitzy, alpine resort town in the celebrated Engadin Valley of Switzerland, with huge notoriety as the... Read More
-
Lake Tahoe is the premier lake resort of America, and the largest alpine lake in all of North America. It is an absolutely... Read More
-
St. Anton, Sankt Anton am Arlberg in German, is Austria's premier ski-bum resort! It's actually a small village cum... Read More
-
Kitzbühel, a small, Tyrolian resort town in the Kitzbüheler Alps, comes with international renown and huge snob appeal, and... Read More