San Esteban de Deyo
San Esteban de Deyo, also called the Castillo de Monjardín, is a ruined castle on a hill overlooking Villamayor de Monjardín in Navarre. The castle lies at an elevation of 890 metres. The castle has a Roman foundation, but was repeatedly rebuilt over the centuries. It was one of the last fortresses of the Banu Qasi, the local Muslim dynasty, before it was taken by King Sancho I of Navarre in 914. According to the Historia Caroli Magni et Rotholandi—a legendary retelling of the lives of Charlemagne and Roland found in the 12th-century Codex Calixtinus—the castle was actually taken by Charlemagne from a Navarrese prince named Furré.
Only the walls of the castle stand today. Many of the stones were taken to build a Baroque hermitage, the Ermita de San Esteban, in the 17th century.[1] The ruins of San Esteban de Deyo were named a Bien de Interés Cultural de Navarra on 25 June 1985.
11th century[edit]
The Medrano family were tasked with overseeing one of the kingdom's crucial defenses, namely the defensive perimeter around Estella. Shortly after the city's establishment in the late 11th century, both Igúzquiza and San Esteban de Deyo (Monjardín) castles were constructed under the command of the Vélaz de Medrano family. Their duty was to safeguard the routes leading from Álava and Logroño.[2] In 1380, Don Álvar Diáz de Medrano y Almoravid, lord of Igúzquiza, received the castle of Monjardín. For generations, the Medrano family, ricohombres of Navarre became the governors of the famous Monjardín castle, whose prodigious cross is said to have been collected by one of these knights when it appeared to one of his shepherds.[3]
The legend of Monjardin castle[edit]
According to the ancient legend of the miraculous appearance of the cross of Monjardín, the shepherd to whom it appeared, not knowing what to do with it, placed it in the Palace of Vélaz de Medrano. The owners of the palace put it in the chapel of Igúzquiza. However, the cross disappeared from there and returned to the juniper grove next to the castle of Monjardin. They brought it back to the palace, and again it returned to the place of its appearance. This happened several times until the lords of Igúzquiza understood that it was a divine will for the cross to leave Igúzquiza and receive worship in Monjardín.[4]
Gallery[edit]
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Well-preserved corner tower of the exterior wall -
Baroque hermitage constructed from the castle's stones -
Panorama of the surviving exterior wall -
The castle, atop the hill on the left, would have dominated the landscape in the 10th century -
Main stairway and doorway to the Castle of Monjardin
Notes[edit]
- ^ David M. Gitlitz and Linda Kay Davidson, The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook (St. Martin's Press, 2000), p. 111.
- ^ https://www.noticiasdenavarra.com/navarra/2013/05/21/homenaje-papel-palacio-iguzquiza-1512-3110077.html
- ^ https://listarojapatrimonio.org/lista-roja-patrimonio/wp-content/uploads/Las-casas-se%C3%B1oriales-de-Olloqui-y-Belaz-de-Medrano.pdf
- ^ Martinena Ruiz, J. J. (2008). Navarra. Castillos, Torres y Palacios. Gobierno de Navarra, Departamento de Cultura y Turismo-Institución Príncipe de Viana. ISBN 978-84-235-3099-1. https://www.culturanavarra.es/uploads/files/Navarra-Castillos-torres-palacios.pdf