Los Arcos - Viana

This part of the journey brought us to the town of Los Arcos and on to another small village called Viana. Just out of Estella is a huge and now empty Benedictine monastery which provided wine for the region in its day. Now a Bodegas winery, pilgrims pass a free wine tap where you can sip the wine on tap! At 8.30am?!!!

We had a rest day in Los Arcos as there was an international motor bike rally in the region and the accommodation was booked out in the surrounding towns! Interestingly we learned that the Australian team had been the previous winners and favourites for this coming race!!

Los Arcos again had a beautiful 16th Century church and cloister. To our delight there was a special altar dedicated to St Francis Xavier and St Ignatius. The two basque boys- Francis Xavier being the local boy and hero from Navarre! There was also a 16th Century music choristers manuscript in the choir loft! It was huge! Imagine singing from this!

This area also featured the evidence of the knights templar. These knights, after the crusades, took it upon themselves to protect and look after pilgrims on the way to Santiago. They built churches and hospitals for them and provided protection for them as it was a treacherous journey in the 12th Century.

We passed a monument to one of these knights and a Church dating back to the 11th Century with an engraved pure silver cross insure it under glass. It looked like it had been brought back from the crusades! Truly beautiful.
The small building in one of the photos is a medieval well and water fountain hewn out of rock and built by the moors in the 13th Century.Read more