Roncesvalles

Roncesvalles

*Orreaga* (Basque)
Roncesvalles Orreaga (Basque)
Municipality
	Orreaga / Roncesvalles
Postal code	31650
Dialing code	948
Website	Official website

Roncesvalles (/ˈrɒnsəvæl(z)/ RON-sə-val(z), Spanish: [ronθezˈβaʎes]; Basque: Orreaga [oreaɣa]; Aragonese: Ronzesbals [ronθezˈbals]; French: Roncevaux [ʁɔ̃s(ə)vo]) is a small village and municipality in Navarre, northern Spain. It is situated on the small river Urrobi at an altitude of some 900 metres (3,000 ft) in the Pyrenees, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the French border as the crow flies, or 21 kilometres (13 mi) by road.

History

Battle of Roncevaux

Roncesvalles is famous in history and legend for the death of

Basque tribes.^[2]

When a party of horsemen from the Kingdom of Navarre arrived at the Duchy of Burgundy in 1439 to negotiate Prince Charles of Navarre's marriage to Agnes of Cleves, the Duke of Burgundy's niece, the prior of Roncesvalles was their chief ambassador. He was described as a "noble knight".[3]

The small

Basque Country

.

Santa María de Roncesvalles

Since the

Way of St. James, since it is the first place to have a rest after crossing the French Pyrenees. The church, a former pilgrim's hospice, was built at the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth centuries. The oldest building is the Chapel of Sancti Spiritus, or "Charlemagne's Silo" built in Romanesque style in the 12th century.^[2]

Every year thousands of pilgrims begin their way to Santiago de Compostela at Roncesvalles.^[2]

The area was also the site of the 1813 Battle of Roncesvalles during the Peninsular War.

Chains found in a Roncesvalles church said to inspire the coat of arms of Navarre. Photographed at the Museum of Roncesvalles

References

^ Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
^ ^a ^b ^c Orreaga/Roncesvalles", Kingdom of Navarre, Turismo de Navarra
^ de Monstrelet, Enguerrand (1840). The chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, continued by others. Tr. by T. Johnes. 12 vols. [and] Plates. marriage of agnes of cleves charles of navarre.

Sources

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Roncesvalles". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 689.