Our Lady of the Yugo

"Virgen Bardenera" · Arguedas (Navarra)

At the gates of the Royal Bardenas, on the top of the Yugo saw over Arguedas, the "Virgin Bardenera," queen of the Bardenas, is venerated in a Baroque sanctuary that dominates the Ebro Bank.

Origin and history

The first secure historical testimonies are located in the mid-14th century, when it is a cult of "Sancta María del Iugo." The headline image is a Gothic size of the 14th century, the most valuable piece of the temple. The present sanctuary was built in the 17th century from a project of the Alavese architect Pedro de Arrese, continued by Pedro de Aguirre since 1677; it stands out for its brick walls, its contrasts and its baroque altards.

It is a devotion of strong regional arraigo, shared by the people of the Ribera de Navarra and the surroundings of the Bardenas, who come in Romeria to the top of the Yugo. She was venerated as "Virgin Bardenera" and "Queen of the Bardenas," and in 1795 she was declared a patron and lawyer of Battalion No. 10 of the Navarra Volunteers. The legend of apparition, located by the popular imaginary about 1189, speaks of the Virgin next to a pine and a yoke of labrance; legendary, not historical account.

Canonical coronation: not found in the sources.