Our Blog - Pamplona, Spain

Initially, we were going to go back through Zaragoza but decided to turn a bit North and stay overnight in Pamplona instead. The bulls weren't there (not until early/mid July) but there was still a few things to see.

A couple pictures along the way ... we were heading closer and closer to the Pyrenees and you could start seeing the mountains in the distance. You see very flat, agricultural land, and then hills, mountains, and a plateau here and there.

The city dates back to the winter of 75–74 BC when the area served as a camp for the Roman general Pompey in the war against Sertorius. It ended up being raided and sacked by multiple groups and really didn't stabilize until after the end of raids by Vikings and Andalusians on the province. After 1083, the city began to grow and get prosperous due to being on the Camino de Santiago (Way of St James, the pilgrimage route). Fortifications in the shape of a pentagonal star were added in 1569 by King Philip II, which caused a few problems later, as the city wasn't able to really grow outside of the walls. So as more housing was needed, courtyards were demolished and higher and narrower houses were built. The southern walls were destroyed in 1915 to allow for expansion while many of the others remain intact.

The walled city had 6 gates originally although this is the only one left (you can see Tom making his way through the gate to begin the exploration of the city.

If you are looking to move to Spain, Pamplona is listed as a city with one of the highest standards of living and quality of life in the country. It also has quite a pretty central city with many of the tall narrow buildings being in very nice shape and brightly painted. Many have small balconies.

Most people (including us) really only knew about Pamplona due to the running of the bulls, which happens yearly during a 9-day festival in honor of Saint Fermin. The origin of the event comes from the need to transport the bulls from the fields outside the city (where they were bred) to the bullring (where they would be killed). The bulls would "run" through the streets to the ring and youngsters would jump among them to show off their bravado. A set of wooden fences are erected to direct the bulls along the route and to block off side streets (you can see where the fences are stuck into the roads) where needed, while in other streets, they aren't needed because the street is so narrow that the buildings act as barriers. You can see Tom starting his "run" out of the corral where the bulls start. When the gate is opened (at 8am), the bulls start up this first uphill road (about 50 meters long) for the 875 meter run to the bull ring.

At the end of the run, they go down a small ramp and through the red doors.

Rafael Huerta captured a single moment during the bull run in this cast bronze sculpture. Some of the runners have fallen to the ground, hoping that they will not be run over by the bulls that pass them.

The City Hall is quite impressive, constructed between 1753 and 1759 with a typical Baroque facade. At the top of the building, there are 2 Hercules statues (which symbolize civic virtues) and an allegory of Fame at the very top.

Not sure what the deal is here (really)...this was a Thursday evening and we were walking back to the hotel from dinner and all these young people were just hanging out on the streets ....hmmmmm

Now, the "big" thing in town to see, the Cathedral, officially Santa Maria la Real. The cathedral is located in the oldest part of the Roman city, with excavations revealing streets and buildings from the 1st century BC. There have been multiple churches on the site, with the oldest one dating back before 1000. It was demolished, rebuilt, collapsed, etc, until this one was built between 1394 and 1501. The exterior façade is neo-classical, added in the 18th century.

The interior is quite Gothic, with the high, ribbed vaults

The first chapel is that of Saint John the Baptist, with an altarpiece dating back to 1610 representing scenes in the life of St. John the Baptist.

The Sandoval Chapel was finished in 1634 and includes the shield of Bishop Friar Prudencio de Sandoval over the door, and a Baroque tabernacle that was added in the 18th century.

The stained glass was nice, but there really wasn't that much of it compared to other churches we've seen.

In one section, we saw this really nice decor over a door, along with what seemed to be very old paintings on the wall.

Probably the best part is the retable behind the altar, which dates back to 1507. It shows the Passion of Christ, along with the annunciation, visitation, ascension, etc (I tried to get a few close-ups to show how lovely it really was).

In the presbytery there is a neo-Gothic canopy with the image of Santa Maria la Real. It is carved in wood and then gilded with silver, and dates back to the 12th century. The baby Jesus is from the 17th century as supposedly it was stolen and had to be replaced.

And the carved wooden choir stalls.

In the middle is the 15th-century tomb of Charles III of Navarre and his wife Eleanor of Castile. The fleur-de-lys are there to indicate that he was, in fact, born in France.

The cloister dates back to the 13th through the 16th centuries. Two sides and the Barbazana Chapel were built starting in 1280. If you look closely, you can see how some of the architectural styles changed as it went along.

Stained glass from the Barbazana chapel, which was built starting in about 1335.

They were doing a LOT of work on the cloister, and I wanted to try to show some of it. You can see (hopefully) where they had just been painting on a thin layer of concrete (the darker color)

The refectory is a large 14th-century Gothic room with ribbed vaults supported by 14 sculpted multi-colored corbels.

There is also a very large museum there, which we walked through very quickly as we didn't really want to spend as much time as really would have been required to go through everything.