Puente la Reina

Stage 4 · Pamplona – Puente la ReinaNavarra
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What is there in Puente la Reina

Puente la Reina (Gares in Basque) is a town and municipality in the merindad of Pamplona, in Navarra, on the Camino Frances.

Few places owe so much to the Camino: the town was literally born from a bridge. In the 11th century a Navarrese queen, traditionally identified as Doña Mayor, had the six-arched Romanesque bridge built over the Arga that you still cross on the way out, and in 1122 Alfonso the Battler founded a town of new settlers beside it. That is why its Calle Mayor is the Camino itself, straight and narrow, from end to end. Before entering it you pass the church of the Crucifix, with its Christ nailed to a Y-shaped cross, and halfway along is the church of Santiago, home to the Santiago Beltza, the dark carving of the pilgrim apostle. With the Roncesvalles and Somport routes united since Obanos, it is a lively stage end.

Accommodation in Puente la Reina

Hostel de los Padres ReparadoresHostelHostel de los Padres ReparadoresHostel Santiago Apóstol Puente la ReinaHostelHostel Santiago Apóstol Puente la ReinaHostel Estrella Guía Puente la ReinaHostelHostel Estrella Guía Puente la ReinaHotel Jakue Puente la ReinaHotelHotel Jakue Puente la ReinaHostel Gares Puente la ReinaHostelHostel Gares Puente la ReinaHotel Rural Bidean Puente la ReinaHotelHotel Rural Bidean Puente la ReinaGuesthouse La Plaza Puente la ReinaGuesthouseGuesthouse La Plaza Puente la ReinaHostel PuenteHostelHostel Puente

Distances from Puente la Reina

From Puente la Reina to Mañeru it is about 5.1 km.

To Cirauqui it is about 7.9 km.

And to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in Santiago de Compostela, about 689.2 km remain.

Puente la Reina is also a key junction on the pilgrim route: here the two roads coming from France, the one from Roncesvalles and the one from the Somport, already travel together, and from this point a single route leads to the Cathedral of Santiago in Santiago de Compostela.

What to see in Puente la Reina?

New Church
Church of Saint Peter the Apostle Puente la Reina

Church of Saint Peter the Apostle Puente la Reina

Church of Saint Peter the Apostle in Puente la Reina The Church of Saint Peter the Apostle is a church
Church
La Iglesia del Crucifijo Puente la Reina Camino de Santiago Frances 2 768x403

Church of the Holy Crucifix Puente la Reina

The Church of the Holy Crucifix in Puente la Reina The Church of the Holy Crucifix of Puente la Reina:
Church
Iglesia de Santiago Puente la Reina Camino de Santiago Frances 2 768x403

Church of Saint James the Greater Puente la Reina

Parish Church of Saint James the Greater, Puente la Reina The Church of Saint James in Puente la Reina, together
Bridge
Puente Romanico de Puente la Reina Camino de Santiago Frances 768x403

Bridge Románico de Puente la Reina

Puente Románico de Puente la Reina The Romanesque bridge of Puente la Reina is an impressive arched bridge spanning the

Why it is called Puente la Reina

The traditional explanation lies in its great Romanesque bridge over the Arga, built in the 11th century by a queen of Navarra whose name the documents do not record. She is usually thought to be Muniadona of Castile, wife of Sancho the Great, or Estefanía, wife of García of Nájera.

Not all scholars accept that version. The historian José María Jimeno Jurio argued that the name came from an old «Pons Rune», the bridge over the Runa, the early name of the Arga river, related to Iruña, the Basque form of Pamplona; over time «Rune» would have been confused with «reina», queen.

The Basque name: Gares

The Basque name, Gares, fell out of use as Basque disappeared from the area at the end of the 19th century. It survived mainly in the writings of the 17th-century historian José de Moret and in a few local place names, such as Garesbidea, «the road to Gares», in neighbouring Uterga; some residents probably still used it in speech in the early 20th century. It was revived in the second half of the last century and is now official. Its meaning remains a mystery, although some link it to gari, «wheat», and translate it as «land of wheat fields».

What are the locals called?

In Spanish they are puentesinos (masculine) and puentesinas (feminine); in Basque, garestarrak (singular garestarra).

Where Puente la Reina is

The town lies in the centre of the Chartered Community of Navarre, south of the Sierra del Perdón, in the Valdizarbe valley and at just 344 metres above sea level, on an open plain on the banks of the Arga.

Its municipal area covers almost 40 square kilometres and borders Belascoáin and Zabalza to the north, Mendigorría to the south, Guirguillano, Mañeru and Artazu to the west, and Obanos and Legarda to the east.

Puente la Reina facts

CountrySpain
Autonomous communityNavarra
ProvinceNavarra
MerindadPamplona
CountyPuente la Reina
Judicial districtPamplona/Iruña
AssociationValdizarbe
Location42°41′31″N 1°49′01″O
Elevation344 m
Area39.7 km²
Population2,805 (2023)
Density70.65 per km²
Demonympuentesino, puentesina / (eus.) garestarra
Predominant languageMixed zone
Postal code31100
Phone prefix948
Mayor (2023)Itziar Imaz Artázcoz (EH Bildu)
Websitewww.puentelareina-gares.es
Camino de Santiago Frances
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