The Baztán Valley: Fifteen Places and a Coat of Arms
Navarre, Spain
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Valle de Baztán
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250
XP
+100 Spain
= 350 total
1 day
The Baztán Valley: Fifteen Places and a Coat of Arms
250 + 100 XP
Baztán is a single municipality of 376 square kilometres made up of fifteen separate places, each with its own scattered hamlets and farmsteads, in the Navarrese mountains near the French border. Sancho III the Great made it a lordship, and because everyone born in the valley held hidalgo status, every household is entitled to use the valley's arms — which is why you find the same shield carved on the front of almost every house and farmstead, varied by the taste of whichever century put it up. Elizondo is the capital, at 200 metres.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Find the valley's coat of arms on house fronts and work out that every household here is entitled to it
2
of 5
Work out what hidalguía meant for a whole valley rather than a family
3
of 5
Drive between several of the fifteen places — Errazu, Arizkun, Irurita, Elbete — and see how scattered they are
4
of 5
Find the Bozate quarter at Arizkun and find out who lived there and why they were kept apart
5
of 5
Walk into the beech woods above the valley towards the French border
Find the valley's coat of arms on house fronts and work out that every household here is entitled to it
Work out what hidalguía meant for a whole valley rather than a family
Drive between several of the fifteen places — Errazu, Arizkun, Irurita, Elbete — and see how scattered they are
Find the Bozate quarter at Arizkun and find out who lived there and why they were kept apart
Walk into the beech woods above the valley towards the French border
Before you go
Baztán is one of the wettest parts of Navarre. Mountain roads to the border are narrow and often in cloud.
Finding nearby campsites...
About Navarre
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Challenge Location
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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