Camino de Santiago Royal Stage (Burguete to Roncesvalles)
Burguete sits on the French Way of the Camino de Santiago, and the short but historically charged 3-kilometre walk north to the Royal Collegiate Church of Roncesvalles is one of the most evocative stretches of the entire 800-kilometre route. Medieval pilgrims have shuffled this same lane since the 12th century.
The Route Itself
Leave Burguete's main street heading north on the N-135, then duck onto the signposted pilgrim path that runs parallel through riverside meadows and a fringe of beech woodland. The walk is almost flat, taking under an hour, and the spire of the Roncesvalles complex emerges dramatically from the treeline as you approach.
The Royal Collegiate Church (Colegiata de Santa María) dates to the 13th century and houses a revered Romanesque silver-covered statue of the Virgin. The adjacent Capilla de Santiago and the Gothic chapter house are both open to visitors and included in the same €4 entry ticket.
Roncesvalles & the Pass
The pass of Roncesvalles (Puerto de Ibañeta, 1,057 m) is inseparable from the Song of Roland — the 778 CE ambush of Charlemagne's rearguard is commemorated by a simple modern chapel and a bronze bell at the summit, 3 km further up the road.
The Roncesvalles pilgrim hostel is the largest on the entire Camino Francés, sleeping 183 pilgrims in bunks. Even non-pilgrims can attend the Pilgrim's Blessing Mass held nightly at 8 pm in the Collegiate — it is unexpectedly moving.
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