Igúzquiza is a village located on flat terrain, surrounded by a large oak forest that, in the late 18th century, extended for about a league and a half.

To the north flows the Ega River, and perched above its escarpment stands a stone and brick castle belonging to the Vélaz de Medrano family, who were the lords of the area.

The House of Medrano, Lords of Igúzquiza, a family of noble lineage, were always closely tied to the kings of Navarre and appear alongside them in the most notable episodes of Navarrese history.

Many principles are attributed to them by authors and historians:"for its antiquity, its splendor, for their military prowess and virtue and for every other value of chivalry that prospered with this family, in great numbers, magnificent and generous.

[16] The commemorative plaque was a project initiated by Nafarroa Bizirik in 2010 on the occasion of the fifth centenary of the conquest of Navarre, and includes the placement of a hundred markers in as many emblematic places in the community.

[17] According to the Geographical-Historical Dictionary of the Royal Academy of History in 1802, it was possible to see in the church of Iguzquiza, hanging on the wall of the main chapel, "various military trophies, such as flags, morions, iron gauntlets, and spurs," belonging to the former Medrano lords of the palace.

[19] Juan Baños de Velasco, general chronicler of Castile and the Cronista Rey de Armas (king of arms), collects a legend, according to which, a knight of the Medrano lineage, relative of the King of Navarre, while fighting against the Moors, raised his eyes to the sky and saw the sun tinged in blood and crowned by a cross with four arms of silver.

[21] The palace itself and a defensive tower stand out, surrounded in part by an ashlar wall with a semicircular portal that features Medrano's deteriorated coat of arms on the keystone.

[4] The archeologist Ramon Campesino's research into the history of the Medrano family and their castle palace led to the discovery of tombs, buried silos, and a significant medieval construction previously unknown and rare in the region.

Located on land once belonging to the Hospitaller Brothers of St. John of Jerusalem, the hospital received water from the Vélaz de Medrano canal.

[4] This ancient castle, rebuilt as a palace in the middle of the 15th century by Ferran Vélaz de Medrano y Ruen, preserves the large courtyard of arms, with its low battlemented walls flanking its entrance, rising in its southeast corner a high square tower, rebuilt in that century on a base of ashlar and the rest of brick.

The north side of the castle consists of large stables, dismantled rooms, and other dependencies, among which there is a small oratory, with a dark oil painting, a spacious kitchen with its carved stone fireplace, a spiral staircase, and thick walls, which denote the strength of such a fortress.

Initially designed with embrasures and arrow slits for archers, these defensive features were adapted in the 16th century to accommodate musket fire and, in the case of the palace itself, even small-caliber artillery.

On both sides of the main gate, the two defensive gun ports for cannon still exist, similar to those found in the native castles of Loyola and Xavier.

[4] Juan Mañé y Flaquer (1823–1901), a Spanish journalist, writer and professor of Latin and Spanish at the University of Barcelona, visited Navarre in 1877 to compose his work "El Oasis, Viaje al país de los Fueros,"[25] where he encountered the customs from the locals in the village of Igúzquiza, specifically about "the palace of the Moors," regarding the old stones of the palace of Vélaz de Medrano.

[26] Immediately adjacent to the town of Igúzquiza, but separated from its settlement, the ancient fortified palace of the Vélaz de Medrano family is preserved.

[8] Shortly after the city's establishment in the 11th century, both Igúzquiza and Monjardín castles were constructed under the command of the Vélaz de Medrano family.

[10] This prince was a lord of vassals, a person of great valor in arms, who was fond of the Christian religion, and in particular very devoted to the Virgin Mary, whose Rosary he prayed every day, even before being baptized.

[10] Andrés Vélaz is supposed to have secretly been devoted to the Blessed Virgin, and as such persecuted by the devil, who, taking human form, was in the position of mayordomo in his service, to assassinate him at an opportune moment; this great lord, while in the palace of Igúzquiza accompanied by his diabolical mayordomo, was reciting the Ave Maria, when suddenly a goshawk came, carrying a ribbon written with the angelic salutation in its beak, and landing on the hand of this prince, the Apostle Saint Andrew suddenly appeared, exhorting and baptizing him.

[4] While this Moorish prince held the goshawk, Saint Andrew banished the diabolical mayordomo who had been watching and compelled him to admit his evil intentions.

[33] The knight received the Christian name of Andrés, after Andrew, the apostle, along with Vélaz or Bélaz, which in Basque means goshawk, after the one that landed on his hand.

in La Silva Curiosa (1583) the Medrano family are:noble princes, [with] blood of noble ancestors, from the Medrano lineage, whose famed virtue is well known from the men it produced (Latin: principibus viris, sanguis parentum nobilium, genus Medraneum, sat nota virtus quos domus illa tulit virorum).

[44] Before he became Lord of Iguzquiza, His Majesty granted Álvar Diaz de Medrano a certain income with the obligation to serve him as a mesnadero with weapons and horses for a limited time when necessary.

A ricohombre, knight, and royal chamberlain to the Kings of Navarre and Aragon, Juan Vélaz de Medrano was also made the 1st Lord of Learza.

[4] He rebuilt the Castle of Vélaz de Medrano into a fortified palace in the mid-15th century, which was famous for the splendor of the festivities held by Ferrán and his children and grandchildren, which were often attended by the Navarrese Monarchs themselves.

In 1455, King John II of Aragon and Navarre awarded him the taxes from Mués, Mendaza, and Legaria, plus the palaces and revenue that Juan de Sarasa owned in the first of these villages, as compensation for the 2,000 florins he expended in the recapture of Genevilla.

A detailed list of the towns, markets, and fortresses in the Kingdom of Navarre, dating around 1512, preserved in the Simancas Archive, includes Lord Juan Vélaz de Medrano y Echauz's Palace of Vélaz de Medrano among the defensive constructions that could pose a threat to Castilian domination, so a military man by the name of Colonol Villalba was appointed as its alcaide.

Her line became collateral when her father produced no male heir to inherit the family mayorazgo and associated lordships, castles and privileges of the Lords of Igúzquiza.

Fading with time, the coat of arms in the outer area features a trefoil cross in gold and their progenitor's hand clutching a silver goshawk, encircled by the family motto inscription "AVE MARIA, GRATIA PLENA, DOMINUS TECUM.

[22] Diego Vélaz de Medrano y Udobro, was the lord of the palaces and towns of Igúzquiza, Learza and Orendáin in Navarre at the end of the 16th century.