Estella-Lizarra

Aerial view of the Elgacena district area with the St. Dominic´s convent in the foreground

Elgacena street recalls the name of the original Jewish district of Estella. Although the first document which mentions the OlgacenaJewish quarter stems from 1135, the Charter of 1090, inspired by that of Jaca and granted by Sancho V, already refers to Moslems and Jews being settled in the area. At that time, the Jewish quarter was only linked to the San Pedro nucleus and the castles' defences as the districts on the other side of the river did not merge with the latter into a single municipality until 1266.

That first settlement of Jews was increased in the second half of the 12th century with the arrival in Estella of new residents essentially dedicated to commerce and in the service of receiving the pilgrims who were going from France to Santiago, boosting the growth of the city in which the Jewish collective started to gain increasing importance. And until the 13th century it was regarded as enjoying the greatest prosperity both of Estella and its Jewish quarter.

Historic documentation tells us that in 1135 the Jewish quarterhad already been abandoned and the space it had previously occupied was donated to the barons of Estella by the King of Navarre García Ramírez the Restorer and in 1145 the crown donated the former synagogue to the bishop of Pamplona so he could build a church devoted to St. Mary and All Saints (today Jus del Castillo).

The Santa María Jus del Castillo church built on the former synagogue

The old synagogue of the Elgacena district was located where the church of Santa María Jus del Castillo is situated today. After the abandonment of the Jewish quarter in 1135, King García Rámirez donated the synagogue in 1145 to the Bishop of Pamplona Don Lope de Artajona so he could build a church there and making the synagogue disappears.

During the restoration work on Santa María de Jus del Castillo church, the archaeological intervention provided valuable information about the old synagogue. Thanks to these works it was possible to identify three of the four walls of the old synagogue at the base of the current Santa María Jus del Castillo church opposite what must have been the gate of Santa María on the old medieval wall. We know that the synagogue was built with rough limestone worked and plaster with a mortar layer where traces of forms can be seen. It was around 18 metres long and 10 metres wide. The gable end or eastern façade was knocked down and replaced by a semicircular apse for its conversion into a Christian church after 1145.

To the south of the church the remains of several dwellings have been restored though it was not possible to recover the plans of any of them. They were raised with irregular adobe bricks on a stone plinth and subsequently lined in lime mortar painted with red ochre or lime mortar using the slipform technique and the roof was made of Arabic style roof ceramic tiles.

Picture of the stele in 1912 published by Fidel Fita in the Bulletin of the Royal Academy of History

Interesting information about the Jews is provided on a funeral inscription, undoubtedly deriving from the Jewish cemetery found in 1912 alongside the ruins of Belmecher castle. The find can be put down to Mateo Morante who held the post of military Commander of Estella as Commander-in-chief of the garrison.

The stela, inscribed on a hard grained, yellowish stone, has dimensions of 35 cm wide by 30 cm high. The type of writing allows us to date the stele in the 12th century after a comparison with other similar funerary inscriptions found in León and Monzón.

The text of the stele was dedicated to Rabbi Noé, the son of Naamá, son of Noé, born in Novar. Fidel Fita dated his death as between October and November 1127.

Historic documentation tells us that in 1135 the Jewish quarterhad already been abandoned and the space it had previously occupied was donated to the barons of Estella by the King of Navarre García Ramírez the Restorer and in 1145 the crown donated the former synagogue to the bishop of Pamplona so he could build a church devoted to St. Mary and All Saints (today Jus del Castillo).

Panoramic view of New Jewish quarter from the Firehouse

The Jews abandoned the old Jewish quarter of Elgacena in the first half of the 12th century and settled on the Northern slope of a terrace of the River Ega situated to the south of the city on one of the bends of the river and under the hill where Belmecher castle was to be built in the last quarter of the 13th century.

The New Jewish Quarter occupied an approximate extension of around 35,000 m2. It was delimited by a wall on its East, South and West where it met the walls of Belmecher castle. On the northern side, the Jewish Quarter neighboured the St. Dominic´s convent gardens from which it was separated in 1307 with the constructon of an adobe wall by order of King Luis Hutin.

The Jewish Quarter included, in addition to the dwellings of the settlement, the communal installations common to all the Jewish Quarters: the oven, butcher's, baths, water mill, a dyeing plant and wine press. As with any Jewish community, it must also have had a synagogue and its annexed installations. None of these buildings has been located at present.

Today the buildings which went to make up the new Estella Jewish Quarter are no longer visible and what remains of them may is concealed under the site and crops. The only visible part of the Jewish Quarter is the wall which delimited and defended it. It is a 300 m long stretch built from white limestone. The remains of a tower are conserved, endowed with two defensive walls alongside which a gate opens providing access to the Jewish quarter.

The archaeological excavations in progress recently undertaken inside this district have allowed the recovery of construction testimonies and material culture to be recovered from said aljama. From the latter it would seem that their urban layout was adapted to the slope with the dwellings situated on parallel lines and on terraces.

The old synagogue of the Elgacena district was located where the church of Santa María Jus del Castillo is situated today. After the abandonment of the Jewish quarter in 1135, King García Rámirez donated the synagogue in 1145 to the Bishop of Pamplona Don Lope de Artajona so he could build a church there and making the synagogue disappears.

Church of Santa María Jus del Castillo

Santa María de Jus del Castillo street starts at the confluence of the street with Curtidores street and begins the ascents to Zalatambor castle passing under Fortunato Aguirre street which forms part of the Estella variant. As if it was a time tunnel, the ascent to the fortress is also an incursion into the first Jewish settlement in Estella in a district where the majority of the houses remain concealed under the ground after having suffered centuries of abandonment.

The current church of Santa María de Jus del Castillo is Romanesque, endowed with just one nave and a tambour-shaped apze, though its façade and tower are Baroque. Alongside the church the remains of the walls can be appreciated which fortified the city's castle.

Palace of the Kings of Navarre

The Palace of the Monarchs of Navarre in St. Martín´s Square is a building from the second half of the 12th centiry with a beautiful porticoed façade with the added extra of the towers and the brick gallery from the 17th century.

In addition to the grace of its Gothic style windows, the chapters stand out for their curious features: On the left-hand column, Roldán's struggle against the Moslem giant Ferragut; on the right-hand one, portrayals of the haughtiness, avarice and lust, with its donkey, its misers and its lewd woman, doomed to the flames of hell.

Today it houses the Gustavo de Maeztu Museum.

St. Dominic´s convent

Behind Santa María Jus del Castillo church there lies the St. Dominic´s convent, founded by Teobaldo II in 1259, a building packed with historic references (at which Courts were actually celebrated) and closely linked to the royal power; it was a Dominican monastery until 1839 and it currently serves as an old folks' home. In addition to the church, which is Gothic with just one nave, a large part of the monastery has been conserved after major restoration work though it is not open to the public.

Slightly more than a century after the Estella synagogue became Todos los Santos (All Saints) church, King Teobaldo II granted it in 1265 to two brother monks Pero Miguel and Fortunio, as well as a vineyard, so they could turn it into a small convent assigned to the order of Grandmont, providing it with some martyrial relics and becoming a place of pilgrimage for those walking to Santiago. The Order of Grandmont, founded in the 12th century in line with the teachings of the hermit Esteban de Thiers in Limoges, was based on the observance of strict poverty and total isolation from the world.

Interesting information about the Jews is provided on a funeral inscription, undoubtedly deriving from the Jewish cemetery found in 1912 alongside the ruins of Belmecher castle. The find can be put down to Mateo Morante who held the post of military Commander of Estella as Commander-in-chief of the garrison. .

The archaeological excavations in progress recently undertaken inside this district have allowed the recovery of construction testimonies and material culture to be recovered from said aljama. From the latter it would seem that their urban layout was adapted to the slope with the dwellings situated on parallel lines and on terraces.

Stretch of wall of the Jewish quarter in the eastern area

The wall is the only visible remains of the New Jewish quarter of Estella. Archaeologically excavated in 2009, the stretch of wall delimiting the New Jewish quarter of Estella starts at the header de la Church of the Holy Sepulchre and continues Southwards until it involves a long hill where the Jewish quarter was located, after turning North, culminating at the Belmecher fortress.

The aljama wall and the aljama itself are part of a wider space enclosing a series of elements of historical interest which are a vital part of the city's history, something which has led to their declaration as an Asset of Cultural Interest with the category of «Historic Site».

The conservation of these walls make Estella the only one of the major medieval Navarre towns as seldom are the walls conserved, allowing is to gain a complete vision of what its defensive system was like.