Enveloped in the silence of the deep, green valley on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees Mountains where it nestles, the Royal Collegiate Church of Nuestra Señora de Roncesvalles (Our Lady of Roncesvalles) is one of the most important hospices on the pilgrim’s road to Santiago.
For more than 1,000 years it has weathered the storms of both these towering peaks and the march of history, while providing refuge to weary pilgrims and travellers alike.
Roncesvalles (Roncevaux in French, and Orreaga in the local Basque language) is one of the most memorable halts along the pilgrim’s route to Santiago de Compostela. It no longer houses anywhere near the number of canons it did at the height of the pilgrimage’s popularity in the Middle Ages, nor does it possess the wealth it did—once holding land, churches, hospices and entire villages from Spain and Portugal throughout Europe to France, Germany, England and even as far away as Scotland.
