Auritz/Burguete (Navarra) (0)

Did you know that... Auritz - Burguete

It is located in the western part of the Irati Forest, on the banks of the Urrobi river, a tributary of the Irati, in a spacious plain at the foot of the Pyrenees. The town centre of Auritz - Burguete is located in an esplanade where a large number of ravines converge and is organised on both sides of the road that crosses it. This village-street was born in the heat of the Way of Saint James to give service to the pilgrims who arrived from Europe crossing the Pyrenees.

A little more history

The Roman legions also marched through these lands in their campaigns towards Hispania. Here the Basques defeated Charlemagne in the 8th century. The origin of Auritz/Burguete dates back to the 12th century, when it was born as the "burgo" of the Roncesvalles hospital. At that time, Sancho VII el Fuerte decided to reorganise the Pilgrim's Way to Santiago in Navarre through the port of Ibañeta. The attraction of merchants and bourgeois, the creation of shelters and the structure of a linear village next to the Way unleashed its foundation in the year 1100. The village has suffered numerous fires throughout its history. In the 20th century, in 1910, another fire broke out in the town and destroyed 12 houses.

What to see in Auritz - Burguete?

It is interesting to walk through its streets observing remodeled and neat houses with inscriptions, gates and balconies, buttresses, coats of arms and ornaments, among them all highlight the house Vergara, 1824 and the native house of surgeon Pablo Fermín Irigaray (1869-1949). Their houses are not very old since most of them were destroyed in the Convention War and by various fires, so they are mostly reconstructions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The parish church of San Nicolás de Bari, on the main street, is the clearest example, built in the Renaissance and after suffering several fires, was subjected to two reconstructions in the middle of the twentieth century.

To discover

The façade, dating from 1699, is decorated with reliefs of popular themes, while the interior features the main altarpiece, a Baroque work recently restored, as well as a bell of 1612. Next to it, the Town Hall has a similar appearance to that of the adjoining dwellings, with an arched portico on the ground floor. The impressive beech forests, Quinto Real or Monte Aézcoa, the grasslands and, of course, the Arrobi bridge, in the vicinity of the village, which dates back to medieval times, are also impressive.

Festivities

The patron saint fiestas of San Juan de Tribuli are celebrated on 24 June (San Juan Bautista), the festivity of San Nicolás de Bari, patron saint of the parish, is celebrated on 6 December..

Traditions

The bonfires of San Juan, which are present throughout Navarre, have a great tradition in this town. They begin with the traditional bonfires on the night of the 23rd and 24th, where the young people dedicate a traditional dance called "Tribuli" to the authorities, and then jump over the bonfires. This rite is repeated throughout the village, a total of 4 times.

Curiosities

Originally from the 14th century, the Cattle Fair is held in mid-September. The stockbreeders of the village and of outside expose their cattle in different corrals that are enabled for the occasion and every 4 years a contest of cattle is carried out.

The Legend

According to legend, there really were witches and sorcerers, who were persecuted, punished and sentenced by the Inquisition. Today the legend continues and stories related to this phenomenon are still being told. The legend would read as follows: "Between November 6 and 8, 1610, the Inquisition court in Logroño condemns five women and one man, all villagers around Zugarramurdi, to die burned alive at the stake accused of witchcraft. One of the villages in which some of its people were accused of witchcraft was Burguete, the canons of Roncesvalles acted in their defense and most were acquitted, although five witches were burned in the square and their bodies hung in the Church of San Nicolás.