Santa María la Real de Ujué

Church-fortress of Uxue (Navarre)

At the summit of the village of Ujué, an imposing Christian-fortress keeps a Romanesque image lined with silver by Charles II; great Marian sanctuary of Navarra, linked from ancient to the devotion of its kings.

Origin and history

There is written testimony from the 10th century of a preromanic temple in the place. On him, in the 11th century, Sancho Ramirez raised a triple-apse Romanesque church. In the 14th century, Charles II of Navarra, a great devotee, ordered a profound reform: he retained the Romanesque header and built a single great Gothic ship, giving him the present look of iglesia- fortress. Charles II wanted his heart to be placed there, and the Queen White I established the ninth to the Virgin in 1436.

In the central apse is venerated the size of Santa María de Ujué, a Romanesque image of aliso wood dated about 1190, one of the oldest of Navarra, lined with silver by order of Charles II. The popular tradition tells that a pastor discovered the image guided by a dove - "uxua" in Vascuence - hidden to protect it from the Muslim invasion; a account of the medieval sanctuaries, not documented in their origin.

Formal patronage and canonical coronation: not found in the sources.