We return to that wonderful legacy of contrasts, adventures, teachings and emotions, which, seen from any perspective, is always that ancient pilgrimage route, marked by the stars of the Milky Way and better known as the Saint James Way.
And we do so, continuing through the lands of Navarre, which, depending on the latitude to which we are heading, is close to another land, Aragon, whose name is already announced to us by the river we are following and which runs through, like a stream of life, the city we are heading to: Sangüesa.
Indeed, at the same distance that separates the town of Javier and its enigmatic castle-basilica of the Mountain Range and the monastery of Leire, that is, the insignificant distance of six kilometres, the next relevant town, which has been waiting for the pilgrim since the dawn of time, is Sangüesa.
Sangüesa, despite the frustrated author of the first pilgrim's guide, the Codex Calistinus, not only stands out for the hospitable and open nature of its inhabitants - in fact, in medieval times, it had the not inconsiderable number of thirteen hospitals - but also because it is home to, to the city's greater pride, one of the most extraordinary examples of Romanesque architecture related to the Saint James Way, which still continues to arouse passion and heated debate.
I am referring to the church of Santa María la Real, whose extraordinary western façade, practically attached to the main road, which, crossing the bridge over the Aragón River, heads towards Pamplona, contains such a wealth of sculpture and, of course, symbolism, that many compare it with that other one that also shines on its own in one of the most emblematic cathedrals of the West: that of Chartres.
If we, who have lost not only most of its keys, but also the spirituality that transcends each of its more than one hundred sculptures, for medieval man and in particular for the pilgrim, it was a guide that led him to measure his actions, to tame his conduct and above all, to transcend his wisdom.
Because in this fantastic bestiary of fantasy, where the ordinary and the supernatural are mixed in scripts dedicated to penetrating the unconscious and where, apart from the hand of the mysterious Master Leodegarius, we can also appreciate the presence of a mysterious Master, the one called San Juan de la Peña, who left samples of his stature and skill, in a good part, also, of Huesca and Zaragoza, practically all the conditions that surrounded the life and thought of a society, the medieval one, are contained, the beacon of whose culture remained current and alert in this type of places, which, above all, marked the main stages of the pilgrimage routes.
Magnificent, in addition to the fabulous tower or lantern that rises above these three genuine apses, the two ends of which correspond to the so-called Gospel and Epistle Chapels, is also the formidable High Altarpiece, in the centre of which, like a sun illuminating the shadows of the nave, stands out the figure of a Romanesque Virgin, with a reputation for being a miracle worker and also generating beautiful legends: the Virgin of Rocamador.
It also has, on the aforementioned western doorway, the most famous hanged man in History, who, some sources, possibly without meaning, relate to that other one that has a profound meaning among the Major Arcana of the Tarot: Judas Iscariot, the traitor Apostle.
Another noteworthy detail is that, at the beginning of the 12th century, this church and its invaluable contents were donated to one of the most powerful medieval military orders, that of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, by one of the kings of Aragon, Alfonso I the Battler, whose will, bequeathing practically the entire area of its territory to the military orders and mainly to that of the Temple, not only raised controversy in its time, but is also another topic of heated debate among modern historians.
Thus, in this beautiful town, as well as in its wonderful main church, stranded, like an ark, on the banks of the Aragon River, we have not only one of the most relevant examples of Romanesque architecture in Navarre, but, by extension, it is also one of the most extraordinary and impressive examples of said architecture at a national level, so that its visit and knowledge, in addition, are a cultural adventure that no traveler should miss.
NOTICE: Both the text and the accompanying photographs, and the video, are my exclusive intellectual property and are therefore subject to my Copyright.
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