Murillo de Río Leza (La Rioja) (0)

Did you know that... Murillo de Río Leza

It is situated where the valley and the mountains meet. In addition two rivers surround it, the Leza, brave and shady, and the Jubera, clear and slow. The origin of the town of Murillo de Río Leza seems to be related to the Romans and their roads and the settlements that originated around their camps, as attested by archaeological remains found in the area. The Muslims, in the Middle Ages, also left their mark, above all in cultivation techniques taking advantage of their fertile lands. When, in the 9th century, hermitage life took off, Murillo offered the clay mounts in the surrounding area and a group of monks dug their caves in them, it seems that in the place known as the Moors' House and Agujerones. In the 11th century Estefanía de Navarra donated the town to his son Ramón el Fratricida. Centuries later Murillo is mentioned again in documents when Enrique de Trástamara hands over several villages, among them to the Lord of Cameros who later leaves it to his grandson, around 1385. The time and history of Murillo de Río Leza run parallel to those of his surroundings. With the abolition of the Señoríos and when the province of Logroño was created, Murillo became part of it. Today it is a dynamic and modern town with a marked agricultural and winemaking character.

To discover What to see in Murillo de Río Leza?

At first the urbanism of Murillo de Río Leza is ordered around the main street with an unequivocal direction marked by the valley. Among its buildings, well cared for, there is any that its façade with coat of arms speaks of a noble history, but it is its parish church dedicated to Saint Stephen Protomartyr, the most emblematic monument in the village. It was built between the 16th and 17th centuries in ashlar stone and with large proportions. On the outskirts of the village there are two hermitages, one, next to the cemetery, is the hermitage of Nuestra Señora del Cortijo and the other that is on the way to Ventas Blancas is the hermitage of Santa Ana, which was built in masonry in the sixteenth century to which in the eighteenth century was enlarged with other constructions. More if all this is nice to see it is not less the district of the wineries, following the road, by the Cuesta de la Covacha, one arrives at a viewpoint from where the town and its landscape offer the best of their faces; vineyards, olive groves, cereal fields, the rivers, the grandiose church...A nice colophon to the visit to Murillo de Río Leza.

Festivities

For some years now, Murillo de Río Leza has been celebrating the main festivities in honour of its patron Saint Stephen Protomartyr during the first week of August, although it is celebrated on 26 December. The minor celebrations, the 8 of September, are in honor to Our Lady the Virgin of the Cortijo. In the village during the year there are several processions and pilgrimages, in the Candelas, the first Sunday of February, is "The procession of the lice". On May 1 is a procession to San Jose Obrero and the 15th to San Isidro. In November there is a pilgrimage to the hermitage of the Virgen del Cortijo, and in December the processions are on the 8th, the day of the Immaculate Conception, and on the 26th, the day of the patron saint San Esteban.

Traditions

In Murillo de Río Leza it is a tradition that the brotherhoods of San Roque, on the 16th of August, festivity of the saint, go around the village all day playing and singing the charramandina which is a typical song of the locality that is accompanied by the sound of hierrillos and panderetas.

Curiosities

In Murillo de Río Leza its parish church of San Esteban Protomártir deserves a special mention. Beginning its construction in the sixteenth century was gradually taking the great appearance of cathedral that offers today. The main façade is similar to that of Santa María de Viana, its tower is a significant example of 17th century Rioja stonework, the choir with its organ, the altarpieces, the oldest of which is that of Nuestra Señora de las Candelas, which dates from the 16th century, and of course the two-storey sacristy, the lower one is the crypt of the Santo Cristo and has direct access to the street and the upper one is in itself the sacristy itself and communicates directly with the church transept, but facing the outer façade both floors have a single building with a beautiful 18th century façade.

The Legend

Many, many years ago, in the term known as Barbarés, in the village of Murillo lived a bad witch, bad, bad, and when people went out to work in the fields in that area, the evil witch cast a spell on them. "They had to return to the village with their backs to it and always with their eyes fixed on it. If they didn't, a little absent-minded look away would transport them back to the beginning of the place where they had left and had difficulty returning to the village. That's why in Murillo you hear the saying "Barbares, Barbares, that men go straight and you turn them upside down".

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