Santa María de Rondesvalles

Mother and Lady of the pilgrims · Orreaga / Rondesvalles

In the high Pyrenees of Orreaga / Roncesvalles, door of the French Way, the Royal Collegiata keeps a beautiful Gothic image of the Virgin, welcome and reference of the pilgrims who cross the mountains to Santiago.

Origin and history

The Royal Collegiate of Santa Maria was born as a hospital and reception centre for pilgrims in the late 12th and early 13th century, driven under the reign of Sancho VII the Fort of Navarra. It is considered the best example of the Gothic French influence in Navarra, with resonances of the cathedrals of the Ile-de-France.

In the presbytery, the Gothic image of Santa María de Rondesvalles, a sedated wood size dated in the 14th century, is venerated, one of the masterpieces of the Marian imagery of its time. The devotion has always developed linked to the service of the pilgrim: the collegiate was conceived as hospitable - sanctuary and the Virgin is honored as "Mother and Lady of the pilgrims" who begin here the Jacobea route after the passage of Ibajeta.

Proper liturgical feast and canonical coronation: not found in the sources.