Nájera: The Cave That Became a Royal Pantheon
La Rioja, Spain
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Santa María la Real
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250
XP
+100 Spain
= 350 total
1 day
Nájera: The Cave That Became a Royal Pantheon
250 + 100 XP
By tradition King García Sánchez III was hunting near Nájera in 1044 when he followed his falcon into a cave and found a small chapel cut in the rock holding an image of the Virgin, a spray of lilies and a bell. The image is called Santa María en la Cueva, the lilies became the monastery's symbol, and the cave is still there at the back of the church. The king was killed at the battle of Atapuerca and buried at the Virgin's feet, inside it. Santa María la Real became the royal pantheon of the kingdom of Nájera-Pamplona, and thirty or so kings, queens and infantes of Navarre, León and Castile are buried in it. The Claustro de los Caballeros was finished in 1517, after the abbey broke from Cluny in 1486, and its tracery is cut extraordinarily thin.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Find the cave at the back of the church and work out that the monastery was built onto it, not over it
2
of 5
Walk the royal pantheon and count the kings, queens and infantes in it
3
of 5
Go into the Claustro de los Caballeros, finished in 1517, and look at how thin the stone tracery has been cut
4
of 5
Find out what the king found in the cave in 1044 — an image, a spray of lilies and a bell — and where he himself is buried
5
of 5
Work out what the kingdom of Nájera-Pamplona was and why its royal burials are here
Find the cave at the back of the church and work out that the monastery was built onto it, not over it
Walk the royal pantheon and count the kings, queens and infantes in it
Go into the Claustro de los Caballeros, finished in 1517, and look at how thin the stone tracery has been cut
Find out what the king found in the cave in 1044 — an image, a spray of lilies and a bell — and where he himself is buried
Work out what the kingdom of Nájera-Pamplona was and why its royal burials are here
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XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
250 XP
Spain country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
350 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in Spain.
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