Another of the unmissable places that await the pilgrim on his way through Navarre is also located following the wake of the waters of one of the most powerful tributaries that pour their waters directly into the Ebro: the Aragón River.
Leaving behind the incredible town of Carcastillo and just a kilometre away, the majestic architecture of what is supposed to have been the first monastery that the Cistercian Order built on Spanish soil rises: Saint Mary of the Olive.
A monastery, not only splendid, especially considering the austerity that had been a key choice of those first Cistercian monks, who, following the abbot, Roberto de Molesme, broke away from the pride and opulence of Cluny, but also, an unequivocal witness of a long and not always pleasant history, which was suddenly interrupted in the 18th century, with the so-called exclaustration or Confiscation of Mendizábal and a forced abandonment that was on the verge of reducing it to ashes.
Having overcome these obstacles and with a flourishing community at its service, Saint Mary of the Olive, like Saint Salvator of Leire, continues to exercise its dedicated and beneficial function of hosting and relieving that endless traffic of consciences, adventurers and restless spirits, which are both pilgrims and travelers.
This makes it easier for the curiosity of both sides to be greatly benefited and both the overnight stay and the visit to such a surprising place always constitute something more than a simple adventure: a whole life experience.
A transition between two antagonistic architectural styles, such as Romanesque and Gothic, the church, with its dimensions and its spectacular vaults, spread out like metaphorical sails along the transept, exerts, on the spectator's fascination, the curious sensation of feeling like a speck of dust in front of the grandeur of a spiritual universe, from which it is impossible to escape without noticing that subtle soliloquy, which, in the form of chiaroscuro, affects the details of a humble but effective setting, provided by the windows and rose windows, details that, after all, could also be considered, in addition to being symbolic and practical, as special effects of the time, designed, with all intention, to mediate with the conscience.
Not forgetting, on the other hand, the beautiful stone image of a White Virgin, characteristic of Cistercian monasteries, which, unlike the previous Romanesque ones, abandons enthronement to rise, like Gothic architecture: Saint Mary of the Olive.
In addition to the church and its impressive monumentality, we have, in the cloister, the ideal element, whose elegance and harmony constitute a true reference to release the tension generated by that enveloping geometry that we have just left behind, providing us with peace and well-being for a contemplative walk.
The keen eye of the traveller will then possibly notice, both in the design and in the style of its pointed windows, familiarities with other similar places, even not too far away, a relevant example being the cloister of Saint Mary of Veruela, a detail that should not surprise us, if we take into account that it was also built by monks from Navarre and more specifically, from the monastery of Fitero.
The work carried out on the vaults of the cloister, which is very commendable, also holds some surprises, especially in relation to the sculptures that make up the bases on which the ribs and flying buttresses rest, unfolding in a fan, in such a way that, together with hunting representations, such as the hunt for wild boar or that which refers to the divergent Apostle, John the Evangelist, there are tempting sirens and centaurs-sagittarius of colossal workmanship.
In short: a place that combines architecture, beauty, magnetism and mystery, where it is also recommended to visit the small shop, where, among other products, entirely made by the monks of the monastery, the main ones are chocolate, honey, wine and oil.
NOTICE: Both the text and the photographs that accompany it, as well as the video that illustrates it, are my exclusive intellectual property and therefore, are subject to my Copyright.
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