Iranzu Monastery It is one of the great unknowns of Navarre. A few kilometers from Abárzuza, in the country of Estella, You have to follow a very narrow road between cliffs and stones until you find a clearing where the religious community of the Theatin fathers lives.
Hidden between the mountains The Iranzu monastery appears, with its monumental church, its magnificent cloister, the Gothic kitchen, the old chapter house, and even the disciplinary cells which can be visited.
The monastery lies in the middle of what is called Iranzu arriveswhich covers the municipalities of Abárzuza, Lezáun, Salinas de Oro, Yerri Valley and Guesalaz Valley, sheltered by the Urbasa – Andía Natural Park, which receives many visits.
Santa María de Iranzu has a long history. It is said that twelve monks from the Cistercian abbey of Cour Dieu They arrived in the Navarrese valley in 1176. to found a Cistercian monastery that the Bishop of Pamplona, Pedro de Artajona, had just donated to them.
The monks maintained and expanded the monastery until the last days of September 1839, when the confiscation of Minister Mendizabal forced them to abandon their seats.
It was abandoned for a century until The Theetian Fathers arrived in 1943 and the rehabilitation began, with the essential help of the Príncipe de Viana institution of the Government of Navarra.
Visitors can see almost all the buildings by paying an entrance fee, although on Mondays it is free. A spectacular cloister is distinguished by the famous disciplinary cells who are rehabilitated. There are guided tours for groups.
A sign reads: “If you don’t want to follow the rules, you have to feel a little guilty.” In the general chapter of the Cistercians of 1206, their construction was authorized in abbeys. There were sometimes rebellions by monks or converts who made them necessary. The penance consisted of spending one or two days eating bread and water, thus obtaining the necessary time for reflection.
The monastery today it only accommodates two Dutch monks after having experienced better times. Theatine fathers scoured nearby towns for novices in the years following the Civil War, and many families let their children go so they could have food and an education.
The Theetian fathers, mostly of Balearic origin, They celebrated the feast of San Cayetano on the first Sunday of August with a big partywith mass followed by an aperitif in the cloister which brought together many inhabitants of neighboring towns, but this custom has also been forgotten in recent years.
