Sangüesa/Zangoza

• Castle of Javier: towers, battlements, walls and dungeons invite us to discover the place where Saint Francis Xavier, patron saint of Navarre and the patron saint of tourism, was born and lived. This is the end point of popular local pilgrimages known as “Javieradas”.
• Monastery of San Salvador de Leyre: ancient monastery nestled in the foothills of the Leyre mountain range. Its most relevant features include the 11th-century crypt, a 12th-century sculpted doorway and the fact that this was the pantheon of the first kings of Navarre. The monastery of Leyre also celebrates something very special: Gregorian chant, based on melodies that date back to the 8th century. In Leyre, Gregorian monodies are heard in their true context: the celebration of the monastic liturgy in the incomparable setting of the pre-Romanesque abbey church of San Salvador (11th-12th centuries).
• Bridge of Roncaleses: nowadays it is broken down, so it no longer serves its original purpose, that is, allowing shepherds coming from the Pyrenees to cross the river Aragón with their flocks of sheep by the nearby town of Yesa.
• Roman Villa of Liédena: this huge archaeological site unveils the plan of one of the many villas that the Roman Empire had in the territory of Navarre.
• Gorge of Lumbier: spectacular rocky gorge, cut by the Irati river, whose erosive action over millions of years has created this natural corridor. The greenway of the former Irati Railway, the first electric train ever in Spain, crosses the gorge. Today it offers a pleasant natural walk where you can see the natural habitat of numerous pairs of griffon vultures.
• Roman city of Santa Criz de Eslava: another of the main archaeological sites of the Chartered Community of Navarre. Although the Latin name remains unknown today, the excavation work carried out has unearthed part of the forum and a necropolis, with a cryptoportico and columns of great architectural value.
• Gallipienzo: medieval town located atop a high point, watching over the river Aragón. It holds remains of walls, cobbled streets and the hermitage of San Salvador, with a beautiful Romanesque crypt.
• Aibar: beautiful medieval town with narrow cobbled streets. The Romanesque church of San Pedro is one of the few in Navarre that is divided into once central nave and two aisles. The martyrdom of Saint Peter, who asked to be crucified upside down, is depicted in the altarpiece.
• Cáseda: it holds remains of medieval walls, an altarpiece of great sculptural quality carved by Juan de Anchieta and, on the outskirts, the Gothic hermitage of San Zoilo with its wall paintings.

LEGENDS OF THE WAY:

• Fountain and miracle of Virila (Monastery of Leyre): Tradition has it that one of the most popular miracles of the Camino took place by this fountain near the monastery. According to legend, in the year 928, the abbot Virila of the monastery of Leyre went for a walk. He sat by the fountain meditating and listening in wonder to the song of a nightingale. After a while he returned to the sanctuary, but found that 300 years had lapsed since that day he left. The monks who lived in the monastery at that time were able to find a chronicle among 300-year-old manuscripts recounting the disappearance of Abbot Virila.
• Hermitage of San Bartolomé, also known as “ermita de los arbolicos”, in Rocaforte: At the entrance of this 12th century hermitage there is a tree to which healing properties are attributed. Tradition has it that Saint Francis of Assisi on his way to Santiago encountered a sick man and asked Brother Bernardo de Quintavalle to take care of the man. After hitting the ground with his crosier, a mulberry tree sprang that gained miraculous fame.