Camino Photo of the Day: Roncesvalles

We arrived at the great monastery of Roncesvalles as the sun was just beginning to set. This was considerably later than had been our intention! The museum was closed, all of the lovely little medieval chapels were locked up for the night, and by the time we showered the evening Pilgrim’s Mass was already finished.

At least we managed to find some food!

Date: 30 March 2016
Place: Roncesvalles (Navarra, Spain)

Next time, I’m going to see those chapels and the museum. Among other things, they contain the tomb of King Sancho “el Fuerte” and

… a Romanesque silver Book of Gospels, a Gothic-Mudéjar reliquary box in gilded silver from the 13th century and the reliquary known as Charlemagne’s Chess-set from the middle of the 14th century. You can also see other gems such as the emerald known as the Miramamolín, a trophy won by King Sancho VIII ‘the Strong’ at the battle of Navas de Tolosa in 1212, which today forms part of the coat of arms of Navarre.

The “trophy” in question are some of the chains of the 200 Christian prisoners freed from the Moors following the battle.