are there any worthwhile museums in Roncevalles?

[htgute]

are they good? what's there to see in the museums?

 

[na2than]

not sure about Roncevalles....but the following day there is a great one. the theme is the camino.The place is run by a chap who has done 24 caminos and claims to be the person that started the practice of painting yellow arrows.The museum is opposite the albergue in Larrasconna...(next town after Zubiri

 

[sillydoll]

Yes!!
Ibaneta Pass
If you start in Roncesvalles, try to get there early enough to take a 3 km walk up to the 1 300 m Ibaneta Pass and look into France from the top. The famous monastery and hospice of San Salvador once stood here. There is a modern chapel here dedicated to Charlemagne and a monument to Roland. This is where the Route Napoleon and the Val Carlos Route join.

Roncesvalles
Many pilgrims start at Roncesvalles (or stagger in late from St Jean Pied de Port!), but because they arrive on the evening bus, they don’t have time to explore this historic monastery complex. Try to get there in time to visit the cloisters and the museum with its extraordinary reliquaries and other artefacts. Scan the church walls for mason signs; visit the old walls of the original hospice opposite the church and the monastery ossury that is said to hold the remains of Charlemagne’s soldiers.

 

[canadiandude]

The only "museum" I know of in Roncevalles is in the Royal Collegiate Church of Saint Mary (Real Collegiata de Santa Maria) where there is a beautiful 14th Century statue of Our Lady of Rancevalles as well as a gift/book shop and a museum holding a relic called Charlemagne's Chessboard (ajedrez de Carlomagno).

 

[sillydoll]

Same place.

Museum of Roncesvalles
http://www.roncesvalles.es
http://www.pirineonavarro.com
Phone: 948790480
Email: auriaorreaga@gmail.com

In a bucolic enclave where nature blends beautifully with the history and legends, we find the beautiful monuments of Orreaga / Roncesvalles , where is the museum of religious art of the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria. The exhibition presents a rich collection of carvings, paintings, an ancient manuscript and printed book, and various pieces of jewelry, among which are the Gospels of Roman, silver, a gold and silver casket Gothic-Mudejar and XIII century reliquary known as Charlemagne Chess mid- XIV century. Observe other gems like emerald Miramamolín call , trophy won by King Sancho the Strong VIII at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, now part of the shield of Navarre. In the painting section protrudes Calvary Triptych, School of Bosch and the Holy Family of San Juanito, Luis de Morales.

 

[mspath]

As Sil and Canadiandude mention Roncevalles monastery, documented from 1127 as a pilgrims’ hospice, has a long, rich ecclesiastical heritage and its many structures are filled with priceless momentos and relics. The picturesque site is assumed to have been even earlier in time the legendary battle scene for the defeat of Charlemagne’s army, immortalized in the famous medieval French poem the Chanson de Roland. Check the monastery's multi-lingual web site for a preview of what can be easily seen or visited >> http://www.roncesvalles.es/index.asp?lg=eng. Unfortunately the museum is often closed in late autumn and winter.

Margaret Meredith

 

[KiwiNomad06]

We booked in for a guided tour in the museum, and we got to see various places that you don't usually get to see... It was quite fascinating.
Margaret

 

[sillydoll]

If you book a tour - of the muesum and the Silo - and, if you ask nicely, they might even show you some of the priceless relics including a 14thC Gothic reliquary that contains bones from more than 30 Saints, 15thC reliquary carved to look like a Saint’s arm, 16thC gold reliquary with 2 thorns from Jesus’crown of thorns.

 

[mspath]

not sure about Roncevalles....but the following day there is a great one. the theme is the camino.The place is run by a chap who has done 24 caminos and claims to be the person that started the practice of painting yellow arrows.The museum is opposite the albergue in Larrasconna...(next town after Zubiri

Na2than,

The man in Larrasoana is NOT the person who started painting yellow arrows. The "painter" was Don Elias Valiña Sampedro the parish priest at O Cebriero during the 1960/80s. Here is the CSJ's account of what he did from their site >> http://www.csj.org.uk/2000-years.htm.

"the Galician priest D Elias Valiña Sampedro, having restored the church and village of O Cebreiro, now turned his attention to the pilgrimage route that had been the raison d’etre for their existence. His doctoral thesis, published in 1967, was a historical and juridical study of the pilgrimage and the Camino. In the Holy Year 1971 he produced a simple handbook called Caminos a Compostela, small enough to fit into a pocket and containing only the information useful to a pilgrim on foot. This was the forerunner of the more extensive guide commissioned from D Elias by the Spanish Ministry of Tourism in 1982 - another Holy Year - and reprinted in 1985. All of these had the effect of increasing the number of pilgrims from Spain and other countries. Meanwhile, also in 1982, D Elias undertook what was probably the single most essential project to revive the Camino Francés - he waymarked it along its entire length from the Pyrenees to the cathedral in Santiago. Thus there came into being the ubiquitous yellow arrow, a symbol he devised and painted on trees, rocks and buildings using surplus paint begged from the Galician highway authority. "

Today on the camino when you climb up to O Cebriero you will see many monuments to his memory in the church cemetery. His relatives also maintain his memory. Check out the photos in their bar/restaurant which is closest to the church. By the way their Pilgrim menu is very tasty and a great value !

Buen Camino,

Margaret Meredith