Stage from Ruesta to Sangüesa

Information about stage 4 through Somport: Stage from Ruesta to Sanguesa

Itinerary

• Km 0. Ruesta (Hostel. Bar)

On the bulky paved road of Ruesta and looking back to contemplate the last panorama of a town from the recent past, colonized by the tree mass and which refuses to succumb to ruin and total depopulation, we descend to a footbridge supported on pillars of stone that allows to cross the river Regal . After the campsite or, rather, what happened to it, now closed, we arrived at the hermitage of Santiago , a Romanesque temple abandoned to its fate. As we pass through the hermitage, a forest track takes over, which will be in charge of guiding our steps on the ascent to Mount Fenerol . There’s no way to get lost. You just have to pay attention to a ninety degree detour to the left that can go unnoticed (Km 2.7) . Taken the detour, the contained climb hardens greatly. As we gain height, the forest lies at our feet and we can enjoy a beautiful panoramic view of the Yesa reservoir , the Tiermas desert – which, like Ruesta, was forcibly abandoned by its neighbors when they built the reservoir – and the rocky barrier of the sierra of Leyre . Once we reach the top (Km 6.4) we cross an asphalt track and continue along it for 100 meters to the left. We then take the wide path that emerges to the right. The Navarrese peak of Arangoiti(1,356 mt), in the background to the right and crowned by its repeaters, dominates Leyre. We begin to descend through an open terrain where the low vegetation of the mid-mountain is intermingled with cereal crops. Undúes de Lerda is still five kilometers away. When you finally see its medieval image of earthy tones, the step is inadvertently quickened. At one point we leave the track and face the descent to the trough by a trail (cyclists should continue on the track). After a stretch of Roman road, a toll is required to enter Undués: a difficult slope. The path to the bar and the hostel, to date one of the best prepared on the Aragonese Way, is signposted.

• km 11.3. Undués de Lerda (Hostel. Bar-Shop)

The second section of the stage presents more favorable terrain. We move away from Undués along a path that makes its way through the scrub and descends along the crest of the mountain. After crossing the road that goes to Undués, we link up with another path (prone to getting muddy) until we reach the information panel that welcomes us to Navarra . Aragón comes to an end and, according to GPS data, we have already advanced 98.8 kilometers from Somport (Km 14.6) . In front, in the background, is the Sierra de Peña with its wind farm. Later on we enter a concentration track that accompanies us for about an hour and which, with great enthusiasm, we leave to the left. After a slight change in direction we come out onto a paved track that crosses an area known as Llano del Real , dotted with rustic farms. After passing the bypass bridge we enter Sangüesa. , crouched until the last moment. We leave the bullring on the left and straight ahead, along Magdalena street, we arrive at the roundabout where the Carajeas portal is exposed, one of the gates of the 13th century wall. We continue straight ahead to enter Enrique de Labrit street, where the hostel is located.

• km 21.8. Sanguesa (All Services)

Difficulties

• Ascent to Mount Fenerol: It really is five kilometers through the homogeneous floor of a forest track. Whoever starts at a good pace will end up asking for the time before reaching the stop.

Observations

• When you reach the boundary between Aragón and Navarra , the signposting changes. The wooden posts that dot the route in Aragon, the GR 65.3 of the Camino de Santiago, are replaced in Navarra by stone markers marked by a shell and a yellow arrow.
• Today’s stage is clearly divided into two long sections, to Undues de Lerda and from there to Sanguesa, it is necessary to carry enough water, especially in summer. Undues is the only town that goes through the stage, it has catering and hostel services.

What to see, what to do

• UNDÚES DE LERDA: A cobbled path with clear signs of a Roman road or a simple stone path to facilitate the passage of cattle, as the Public Works engineer Isaac Moreno maintains, leads to the gates of Undués de Lerda, the last Aragonese town on the Camino de Lerda. Santiago. It belongs to the Cinco Villas region and sits on the Sarda mountain range, in the pre-Pyrenean depression of the Val d’Onsella . The oldest nucleus is swirled around the 16th century church of San Martín . Also noteworthy are the 15th century Town Hall building and two 18th century palace houses. The old pilgrims’ hostel is an old palace from the end of the XV century, completely rehabilitated in 1994.
• SANGÜESA: After Jaca, Sangüesa is the second town in number of inhabitants (more than 5,000), on the Aragonese Way. It belongs to the judicial district of Aoiz since the 19th century but it was the capital of one of the five historical merindades that made up Navarra . The first town of Sangüesa must be found where Rocaforte is located today, a town also on the way to Santiago and located on the other side of the Aragón river. In the year 1090, Sancho Ramírez, king of Aragon and Pamplona, granted the jurisdiction of Jaca to that first town to favor the repopulation. Thirty-two years later, in the year 1122, the also King of Aragon and Pamplona, Alfonso I the Battler, extended this charter to the new town of Sangüesa, which was beginning to grow on the banks of the river. Like so many other towns on the Camino, it grew and was established at the pace of the pilgrims who crossed, as now, the Rúa Mayor. The modern traveler will find in Sangüesa all the services that he could have missed from Jaca.
  • Church of Santa María la Real: Located on Calle Mayor, next to the bridge over the Aragón river, Santa María la Real is the pretty girl of Sangüesa and its façade is an outstanding reference to Spanish Romanesque . The body is made up of three naves with three sections each and a header with three apses. The octagonal tower is in the Gothic style and was renovated in the 20th century. The popular doorway is completely covered with sculptures made by the masters Leodegarius and San Juan de la Peña . Among the many scenes represented are Genesis, the life and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Last Judgment, which occupies the tympanum.
  • Church of San Salvador: It was built at the end of the 13th century in the Gothic style. The cover is later, from the 16th century, and represents the Last Judgment. The interior walls were covered with white lime at the end of the 18th century and hide Gothic paintings that are waiting to be recovered.
  • Church of Santiago:Declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1977 , it is a construction with Romanesque and Gothic elements from the 12th and 13th centuries. On the tympanum of the portal, from the 17th century, Santiago is represented flanked by two pilgrims. In turn, the interior keeps an image of Santiago the pilgrim from the 14th century.