Estella-Lizarra

This article is about the city of Estella in Spain. For the theologian and mystic Diego de Estella (also: Didacus Estella, Diego Estella, Diego de Ballesteros y Cruzat; 1524–1578) see Diego de Estella .

Estella / Lizarra municipality
Old town of Estella
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Navarre
Province :	Navarre
Comarca :	Estella
Coordinates	42 ° 40 ′  N , 2 ° 2 ′  W Coordinates: 42 ° 40 ′  N , 2 ° 2 ′  W
Height :	421  msnm
Area :	15.39 km²
Residents :	13,810 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	897.34 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	31200
Municipality number  ( INE ):	31097
administration
Mayor :	María José Fernández Aguerri PSOE
Website :	www.estella-lizarra.com/es/

Estella [ es'teʎa ] ( Spanish ; Basque Lizarra [ li'sara ]) is a small town in central Navarra in Spain . Estella has 13,810 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019), making it the sixth largest town in Navarre. Both names of the city, Estella and Lizarra, are used officially.

geography

Estella is halfway between the capitals of Navarre ( Pamplona ) and the Rioja ( Logroño ). It is located in a valley 421 m above sea level. NN and is surrounded by the following mountains: Montejurra , Peñaguda , Cruz de los Castillos , Santa Bárbara and Belástegui . A Spanish proverb says that because of its mountains you only see Estella when you are there: "No se ve Estella hasta llegar a ella." This mountain ring protects the city from cold winds and is therefore responsible for Estella's mild climate.

The Río Ega , a tributary of the Ebro, flows through the village . Estella is very well connected to Pamplona, ​​Logroño, Saragossa , Vitoria and San Sebastián by road. The Autovía A-12 runs a few kilometers to the south and can be reached via three junctions: Estella-Tafalla (39), Estella-Calahorra (41) and Estella-Irache (44).

history

The city developed next to the market town of Lizarra, which was recaptured from the Moors in 914 by Sancho I. Garcés , King of Navarre .

In 1090, Sancho Ramírez , King of Navarre and Aragón , decided to found a Franconian settlement after a strange star sign that showed shepherds the way to a miraculous image of the Virgin of Puy and gave the city her name . It was supposed to be taken care of by the pilgrims who came to Santiago de Compostela in increasing numbers from all over Europe . Significantly, Estella (Latin: Stella, star) was still outside the Camino Francés at that time , and the pilgrims stayed in the Zarapúz monastery. However, the Benedictine monks had nothing to oppose royal promotion and the attraction of a miraculous image found under heavenly signs (cf. Santiago de Compostela), the decline of their monastery was only a matter of time. Sancho Ramírez relocated the pilgrimage slightly and built a castle on a rocky hill on the right bank of the river and the city to protect it. In the same year he granted Estella property rights and privileges similar to those of the city of Jaca . They allowed Franks to move in; Navarre citizens required the approval of the king. In 1187, Sancho the Wise founded the San Juan district and populated it with Navarre citizens. He granted them the same privileges as the Frankensiedlung. In 1188 he included the Arenal district in these fueros . Until they were unified in 1266, three city centers with different populations existed side by side.

The situation of Estella on the Way of St. James attracted craftsmen and traders to settle here. An evaluation of the churches and local saints, as well as the results of a recent excavation, showed that mostly Franks and Jews came from the area of Le Puy and Tours . Estella was populated with shops and accommodation providers and experienced an economic boom, which was particularly reflected in the building activities: Within a short time, Estella transformed from a simple market town into a prosperous city. From the 12th century onwards, stone buildings were built with a predominantly religious purpose (ordinary buildings were made of wood), which - in the words of the Spanish historian Caro Baroja - made Estella the "Romanesque capital of Navarre".

In 1270 the star sign of Estella is said to have been repeated over the grave of an anonymous pilgrim. The tomb was opened and, according to tradition, the body of the Bishop of Patras was found , which was recognized by the documents that were carried with them. According to legend, the bishop made pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in 1270. He had carried relics of St. Andrew with him, which he wanted to bring to Santiago. The possession of the relics is explained by the location of the martyrdom that the apostle Andrew suffered in Patras in 62. The bishop traveled anonymously and died unrecognized in Estella after an illness. He was buried in the cloister of the Church of San Pedro de la Rúa after his tomb was opened. Since then, the relics have been in a chapel of this church and Saint Andrew, along with the Virgin of Puy, is the patron saint of the city.

The Río Ega in Estella

In the 13th century Estella was an important trading and financial center with a famous exchange bank, the "tabla de cambios", at that time it was more important than Pamplona and on a par with Burgos. Aymeric Picaud , author of the fifth book of Liber Sancti Jacobi called " Pilgrims' Guide " , described the city very positively in contrast to the surrounding area: "Rich in good bread and excellent wine, in meat and fish and all kinds of goods" . He praised the Egas water with the words "a flow of sweet, healthy and extraordinary water" .

Although there were still six pilgrims' hospices here in 1354, the height of urban development had already passed. In 1323 the citizens' associations were dissolved, which originated from the formation of the city from ethnically different quarters and corresponded to these. In 1328 the Christian population covered the Jewish quarter of the city with a pogrom and damaged the trading center and the economic power of Estella (Jewish trading companies moved away). Floods and the long siege during the armed conflict between the kingdoms of Navarre and Castile in the 14th and 15th centuries did their part to impoverish the city further. In 1512 the city fell to Ferdinand, the Catholic , whose Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros ordered the castle to be blown up. The falling debris destroyed parts of the cloister of the Church of San Pedro de la Rúa, only half of which was preserved.

20th century: In the months before the uprising of the Spanish military, the mayor of Estella, Fortunato de Aguirre Luguin, learned of General Emilio Mola's coup plans . Mola met several other putschists at the Iran Monastery . The last meeting took place on July 16, 1936 between General Mola and General Domingo Batet . The following day, July 17, 1936, the Spanish Civil War began with the military coup in Spanish Morocco . In Navarra , with the support of Carlist forces, the putschists very quickly succeeded in usurping state power. In the Navarre region, the nationalists murdered large numbers of Republicans. According to the author Heleno Saña , their number is equal to the number of male votes the Popular Front received in the 1936 elections. The mayor of Estella, Fortunato de Aguirre Luguin , was also murdered .

Attractions

Palace of the Kings of Navarre

Profane architecture

• The Palace of the Kings of Navarre is the oldest preserved Romanesque secular building in Navarre and is located in the city center and is also known as the Palace of the Dukes of Granada de Ega . The palace, built at the end of the 12th century and expanded in the 17th century, now houses the Gustavo de Maeztu Museum (see web links). The capitals on the south facade are particularly noteworthy .
• The station building of Estella station is the only thing that has been preserved in Estella from the railway systems of the Vitoria – Estella railway, which was closed in 1967 . It is a magnificent building in neo-Romanesque forms .

Religious architecture

North portal of the Church of San Miguel de Estella

• The church of San Pedro de la Rúa is located in the city center and can be reached via a wide, curved flight of stairs. In 1174 it is mentioned in the oldest surviving mention as a parish church . In 1256 it became the main church of Estella. The remains of the associated Romanesque cloister are particularly noteworthy .
• The church of San Miguel de Estella is located on a hill above the city. It has a richly sculpted Romanesque north portal from around 1185.
• The church of San Sepulcro is the structural remainder of what was once a much larger church. It also has a richly sculpted north portal from the late Romanesque period.

Population development of the municipality

Source: INE archive - graphic processing for Wikipedia

Culture

In addition to the city festivals, Estella organizes a week of medieval studies (Semana de Estudios Medievales) in July and the week of ancient music (Semana de Música Antigua) and Sephardic Week (Semana Sefardí) in September .

In the city there is a culture house Casa de Cultura Fray Diego on Calle de la Rua and the conservatory in the former station building. Both organize series of programs on a variety of topics and opportunities.

To visit is the park "Parque de los Desvelados o Las Calaveras", with great woodwork and old materials by the artist Luis García Vidal.

traffic

Reception building of the former Estella train station

Estella has been a stop on the Way of St. James for centuries .

From 1927 to 1967 Estella was connected to the Spanish rail network by the narrow-gauge Vitoria – Estella line. Today only the reception building remains , which is used as a bus station and which also houses the city's tourist information office.

gastronomy

In the gastronomic tradition of Estella the roast plays an outstanding role, but the highlight is the suckling pig. In addition to excellent game dishes, trout from the Río Ega has been on the menu of the city since the beginning.

Beyond the meat, there is the regional dish ajoarriero , consisting of stockfish , peppers, onions, garlic and tomatoes.

All around Estella, asparagus, paprika and other fruits and vegetables flourish, delicious sheep's cheese is made and in Irache very good wines.

Seasonally, mushrooms and truffles continue to enrich the regional cuisine, wild sloes are mixed with aniseed schnapps for Pacharán .

Sports

Estella is the venue for the one-day Gran Premio Miguel Induráin cycling race , which has been held since 1951. The football stadium of the local football club CD Arenas bears the name of Bayern Munich professional Estadio Javi Martínez.

Town twinning

With the French town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the region Aquitaine , the equally at St. James Camino Francés is, one since 1964 twinning .

literature

• Cordula Rabe: Spanish Way of St. James. From the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela. All stages - with variants and height profiles. Bergverlag Rother, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-7633-4330-0 ( Rother hiking guide ).
• Bert Teklenborg: Cycling along the Camino de Santiago. From the Rhine to the western end of Europe. (Cycling guide, route planner). 3rd revised edition. Publishing House Tyrolia, Innsbruck 2007, ISBN 978-3-7022-2626-8 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
2. ↑ Location information from the regional government of Navarre (Spanish)
3. ↑ Heleno Saña , The Libertarian Revolution (The Anarchists in the Spanish Civil War), ISBN 3-89401-378-8 , 1st edition, page 55

Web links

Commons : Estella / Lizarra  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Estella - The Estella by Javier Hermoso De Mendoza (Spanish)
• German language website of the Museo Gustavo de Maeztu
• Information about the Camino Francés

Navigation bar St. James " Camino Francés "

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