We made a day trip from Olite to Artajona, Tafalla, and Ujue, only 67 kms in total but another Wow! day.
Read more: Artajona, Tafalla, and Ujue
Artajona
We had seen in the Museum of Navarre in Pamplona frescoes from the Church of San Saturnin in Artajona and so needed to see the actual church. It was an easy drive from Olite, through Tafalla, past the Bardenas Canal, and then Artajona came into view.
San Saturnin is actually in the Medieaval town of Cerco de Artajona, an 11th century walled town on top of the hill overlooking the village of Artajona. We wound up the hillside, parked the car, and found something quite extraordinary, again – a line of walls and towers on a bank filled with flowers.
The walls date from the 11th century and there were originally fourteen towers; nine remain today. And two gates remain – San Miguel and Remahua. I can’t find out which is which!
The Church of San Saturnin
The church was built over a previous Romanesque church and is clearly defensive, with a tower which was also a lookout tower.
Frescoes in the Museum of Navarre which were taken from the church.
The tourist office and church are only open over weekends and we wandered around a ‘ghost town’ but it was still fascinating.
Views from Artajona
As you look over the countryside from the top of the hill it is clear that agriculture is an important industry. Agriculture and food is a huge industry in Navarre, particularly in the Ebro Valley and apparently Navarre contributes 12% to total exports. The car industry is very big, as are bio-medical supplies and renewable energy. (We saw notice of new investment near Lumbier.)
This is ‘old’ country and there were people here in pre-historic times, evidenced by dolmens c.4kms north of the town. But I only discovered this later…
Tafalla
Then we needed a cup of coffee. We drove back to Tafalla, parked the car and settled into the cafe attached to the Restaurant Tubal on the Plaza de Navarre. We noticed the Michelin star…
As we paid we saw some greenery in the restaurant and climbed the stairs to find a piano bar and a beautiful dining room. One of the lessons in Spain is not to underestimate the interiors of buildings; what look old from the outside is very often stunningly beautiful and modern inside. This is one of the top restaurants in the region! Next time….
Tafalla to Ujue
Suitably refreshed we drove on to St Martin de Unx – strange name – which looked interesting. However, we wer headed for Ujue so turned off the main road and climbed a ridge of hills for the most astounding views. On one side the plains stretched for miles, and on the other we could see the Pyrenees. It was breathtaking.
Legend tells us the town was founded when a shepherd saw a dove flying into a hole in the rocks, followed it, and found a statue of the Virgin Mary. The name of the town comes from the Basque word for ‘dove’. We parked the car outside the town and headed straight for the church; I regret that we didn’t explore further in the town but there is limit to the amount of information one can absorb in one day, regretably.
Santa Maria of Ujue
Ujue is yet another hilltop Medieaval town, but we were here to see the Fortress Church of Santa Maria of Ujue. It is likely that a fortress/church was built here in the 8th or 9th century. Today’s church, which dates from the 11th century, is the third building on this site, and further changes were made in the following centuries. The black Virgin of Ujue is apparently very important in this area and the heart of Charles III is buried in a casket in the church. There is some scepticism about the latter.
And here I learned another lesson about the importance of language. I walked round and felt underwhelmed, and then sat down quietly. And it occurred to me that if you think of this as a church you have one set of assumptions. But if I thought about it as an isolated sanctuary, somewhere stripped down to the essentials of belief, then the surroundings suddenly came alive. Alive in the sense that it was a place of total peace.
The Virgin and Child are black, and I have often wondered about this. When we returned to the hotel we spoke to the receptionist about this wonderful church and she told us about the annual pilgrimage to Ujue to venerate the Virgin who is very important in this area. She herself participates, a walk of 40 kms in one day and some people carry large wooden crosses. Others walk further, and they are not young people. It was humbling. The story is that the pilgrimage started in the 11th century when the residents of Tafalla wanted to thank the Virgin of Ujue for victory in a battle.
Up in the gallery, known as the choir there was an exhibition but also these 14th century wall paintings.
The complex was originally meant to be a fortress, a defence against Muslim/Arab raids. Apparently the purpose of the enclosed passages behind the apse was to shelter soldiers, or so the lady on the desk told us. She was incredibly kind, and actually put 1€ in the box to light up the church for us.
It was a fabulous day in Artajona, Tafalla and Ujue and as we made our way back to Olite over the plains we crossed over the Bardenas Canal again, a kind of full circle to the day.
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