Day 2: Zubiri to Pamplona - Through the valley to our goal...

 

One of the little towns that we walked through was Zabaldika. It has both an upper and a lower village. In the upper village is the Church of Saint Stephen. The church dates from the 13th century and is attached to a small convent. One of its unique qualities is the broad bell tower that rises above the church's choir loft. From the choir loft you can take narrow circular steps up to the where the bells hang, one of which was forged in 1377. Every visitor is given the chance to ring it once! The sound is clear and bright; the sound carrying over the valley below. Here we sang. The lady who was tending the church recorded it so that she could share it with the nuns.

From here we descended into Pamplona. This is a larger city with all the amenities you might want. 

One of my favorite cathedrals in Spain is the one in Pamplona. Here are a few details that you might find interesting. First, there is a sepulcher here where Carlos III de Navarra and doña Leonor de Castilla are buried. Sitting at the feet of the king is a lion and at the feet of the queen are two dogs.

The lion symbolizes the king's strength and valor

The dogs at the queen's feet are fighting on a single bone. This image is believed to be an allusion to the wearing away of life and time: a sign that life is fleeting. 

Around the bottom are statues known as "plorantes" or weepers. Each one is unique. My favorite is one that represents a contemplative monk with one finger placed between the pages of a book as he turns to another. This is an example of lectio divina (divine contemplation).

Finally, there was a tympanum over one of the doorways in the cloister that, for some reason, I had never noticed. This time some students pointed it out. It tells a very interesting story:

In the center of the lower section represents two scenes: The arrival of the women to anoint the body of Christ and find an angel who tells them that he is not there, but has risen. Conflated into the scene is that of the soldiers (in the arched areas) who are asleep. To the left of the tomb is when Mary mistakes Christ as the gardener and then, moving further to the right, when he reveals to her who He is and declares (John 20: 13-17).

To the left of the tomb is a representation of the "Harrowing of Hell," a tradition that between his death and resurrection Christ descended into hell to free the righteous souls held captive there. Here you see him fending off the gates of hell with a cross in his hand while he reaches out to take Adam and Eve from its clutches. Notice that hell is seen as a gaping beast and on its head is a demon moaning his loss.

One more tidbit. Just off the cloister is the refectory or eating area for the monks. This space allows for more temporal, worldly decorations since eating is often associated with gluttony. So, here you find some wild figures decorating the corbels that sustain the ribbed vault: a monkey, a clown, and a lute player.

It was fun to revisit the cathedral and discover new and exciting things. Every time I visit a church or a cathedral I am reminded of what Victor Hugo wrote in The Hunchback of Notre Dame that "architecture is the great book of humanity," and so it is. As we walk around a church or cathedral we are reading the words and beliefs that others have wanted us to understand, perhaps with the hope that we are blessed by their message.