Ayegui (Navarra) (0)

Did you know that... Ayegui

This attractive municipality is located in Tierra Estella, on the northern slope of the charismatic Montejurra mountain. Ayegui was an ancient place of ecclesiastical lordship in the Middle Ages, documented in the 11th century with the names Aiegui, Agegui and Alhegi. King Sancho Garcés IV of Peñalén donated it, in the year 1060, to the Monastery of Irache with all its term and all the jurisdictional prerogatives. In the early years of the 12th century, the abbot of the monastery sold vineyards and other estates to some of Estella's Frankish neighbours.

A little more history

The local church of San Martín also belonged to Irache. Faced with the departure of its inhabitants, the abbot, along with the entire council of the town opted for a readjustment of the pechas and tributes, but the posada (obligation to accommodate the members of the monastery) and of course, the ecclesiastical tithe as well as judicial fines for robberies and murders. It belonged to the Solana from an administrative point of view, until 1845, when it was constituted as its own town hall, having a school in 1850.

What to see in Ayegui?

The parish church of San Martín in the Plaza de los Fueros stands out in the town centre. It is neoclassical in style and dates from the late 18th century, although its construction seems to date back to the 17th century. Its slender 17th-century tower attracts our attention, and inside the church the 14th-century Gothic carving belonging to the Virgin of the Rosary is interesting.

To discover

In the surroundings of the church, in the Calle Mayor and in the Plaza de Los Fueros, various civil constructions from the 16th and 17th centuries are grouped together. The hermitage of San Cipriano, which was built in the 14th century and belonged to the monastery, is located at the top of Montejurra and its interior houses the carving of San Cipriano, patron saint of the village, in late Gothic style. On the outskirts of the town is the Monastery of Santa María la Real de Irache

Festivities

The patron saint fiestas are held on the second Sunday in September in honour of San Cipriano. There are also three pilgrimages throughout the year to the hermitage dedicated to its patron saint.

Curiosities

There are two different population centres in the municipality, the village of Ayegui and the area of Irache. And between both centres and at the foot of the Way of Saint James, stands the Monastery of Irache, one of the most emblematic of the Jacobean route.

The Legend

On the road that connects Estella with Ayegui, there is a rock called the "peña Rompehuevos", because it is said that once they wanted to throw it throwing eggs. They threw against it all the eggs they found in the village, but the rock remained standing. That's why they say in Ayegui: "We lacked an egg to throw the peña".