Santa María la Real of Nájera

Santa Maria la Real and the attached royal pantheon were founded by King García Sánchez III of Navarre in 1052.

The monastery remained in Cluniac hands until the 15th century, when it was established through Papal mandate as an independent abbacy under Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI), at which time it underwent a major reconstruction.

As the popularity of the Camino de Santiago waned, so did the fortunes of the monastery, which depended on the wealth generated by traffic of pilgrims.

In the nineteenth century it suffered under the Napoleonic occupation of Spain and anti-monastic legislation in the 1830s (the Ecclesiastical confiscations of Mendizábal) before being declared a national monument in 1889.

The exterior of the Monastery of Santa María la Real de Nájera is a mixture of different styles, fruit of its long story.

Beneath the choir the entrance to the cave can be found, where the image of the Virgin is believed to have been discovered, a place which has remained unchanged since then.

The main reredos dates back to the 17th century, of baroque style, and with big highly decorated Solomonic columns with vine grapes and leaves.

The depiction of the elements that are believed to have been found next the image of the Virgin is noteworthy: a jar with Madonna lilies (emblem of the monastery), a lamp and a bell.

The image which originally leads to the construction of the religious complex is a medieval polychrome (only in the front face) sculpture carved in wood.

In 1044 the king, who was hunting with falconry, following its hawk found the Virgin with a bouquet of Madonna lilies, a lamp and a bell in this cave.

It was created between the years 1493 and 1495, attributing the work management to the brothers Andrés and Nicolás Amutio, and funded by the abbot Pablo Martínez de Uruñuela (they are depicted on the back of the second lower left chair).

The carvings of the backs, as well as of the misericords, are all different from each other and represent religious symbols, scenes of daily life and leading figures at the time.

The set is concluded with a baroque depiction of a Benedictine congregation over a frieze with slender pillars which enclose a rococo landscape.

The decoration is austere, the reclining figures of the different personalities with their king attributes and an epitaph corbel are placed above the white stone burial urns.

The high altar is located on the left side of the mausoleum of Manrique de Lara, duques of Nájera since its creation by the catholic Monarchs in 1482.

Also buried there is Juan Esteban Manrique de Lara, who was virrey of Navarra in 1521 and who fought by Ignatius of Loyola in the siege of Pamplona.

The entrance to the tomb of the queen of Portugal, Mencía López de Haro, is located on one of the west side corners of the cloister.

Next to Mencía's tomb her brother's and Garci Lasso Ruiz de la Vega's can be found, who died in the battle of Nájera in the year 1367.

The lineage of López de Haro hold the title of counts of Nájera and lords of Biscay since king Sancho the Great appointed them until the 19th century.

The Mausoleum of Diego López de Haro, known as the good, 10th lord of Biscay (1170–1214) is located next to the entrance to the church and can be reached at the feet of the main nave, in the south wall of the cloister.

It dates back to the first half of the 16th century and is decorated with medallions, vegetal motives and fantasy animals grouped in rectangular panels.