Monastery of Leyre

Located in the municipality of Yesa, east of Navarre and 50 km from Pamplona, the Monastery of San Salvador de Leyre is one of the most prominent monuments of Navarre for its important historical and artistic.

Placed in a frame of exceptional beauty, is closely linked to the landscape and its geographical characteristics. The monastery sits on the balcony of the mountains and, from de heights of the monastery, we can contemplate the difficult geography of the place as the swamp of Yesa.

The Monastery of Leyre is regarded as a flagship location in the old kingdom of Navarre. During the difficult times of Muslim invasions served as a refuge for the monarchy, being a royal residence and pantheon of the kings of Navarre.

King Sancho el Mayor of Navarre was the iniciator of the Romanesque work. And the maximum splendor of the monastery was located between the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

But the importance of Leyre was not a constant throught its history, living times of boom and decline culminating in 1935 with the disentailment Mendizabal, a law that expropriated the assets of the church. From this moment, the monastery remained abandoned until 1945, when it was restored. After the restauration, returned again the monastic life to Leyre with Benedictine monks.

From the artistic point of view, the Church of Leyre is of excepcional importance because it involves the introduction of Romanesque art in Spain.

The Crypt of the Monastery of Leyre is the first Romanesque building of Navarre and one of the oldest in the Way to Santiago. It was built early in the eleventh century, which is why we find ourselves with a Romanesque still very primitive, simple and austere.

It´s going to take a constructive role, was built to withstand the weight of the head of the church, hence its great strength. The huge capitals on small shafts are the most typical face of the crypt.

Already in the high church, the area of the head belongs to the fisrt romanesque era, a header which overlaps in plants and remains faithful to the crypt. The great romanesque nave was built at the end of the eleventh century and correponds with an advances romanesque style. And we can see too in the church of Leyre the romanesque main door, called Porta Speciosa or beautiful Door (of the 12th century).

In the abbey church, in addition to the above, is the image of Santa Maria de Leyre and the Pantheon of the Kings of Navarre. In this church you can hear the Gregorian chants of the Benedictine monks of Leyre.

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