In the fifteenth century it was known as “Estella the beautiful”. Its monumental center is concentrated around the Plaza de San Martin , with its fountain of jets from the sixteenth century, the left side of the Sugar Bridge. There, next to the grand staircase leads to San Pedro that was the eighteenth-century Old Town Hall (now Regional Court). In the 16th century a Renaissance building was built on a frank chapel; with two coats of arms of the city adorned On Its facade.
The Cistercian Church of San Pedro de la Rua is a Gothic building of three ships With three apses modeling the late twelfth century Romanesque style. Inside there are murals and chapels of later works: such as the Baroque dome plasterwork in the Chapel of San Andrés (1596). From the epistle you enter the cloister, Which has the north Pandas (galleries) With scenes of saints and the life of Christ and the west gallery with plant motifs and four columns entwined in center the arches (also seen in the Burgo de Osma and Santo Domingo de Silos ). The rest were lost in 1572 coinciding With the demolition of the castle located above. Each section consists of nine arches, supported by columns paired with beautiful capitals. The main entrance has Cistercians and Moorish influences like the lobed arch. The rectangular tower with arrow slits gives an appearance of a church-fortress.
The Palacio de los Reyes de Navarra or Palace of the Dukes of Granada de Ega, from the late twelfth century, is the only example of Romanesque civilization remaining in Estella and the rest of the Navarre community. There, on the left side of the facade to the street of San Nicolas, is the famous Capital narrating the fight between Roldán and Ferragut. At the southern end of this street is the Puerta de Castilla, the only one surviving are the walls. The Palace houses are dedicated to Gustavo Maeztu Museum, a painter of Generation of ’98 . Located next door is the Tourist Office.
In cavalcade of Tabernacles (named after the old Gothic arches giving Jacobean entrance to shops and hostelries) is the House of Culture Fray Diego , a plateresco sixteenth century palace with a beautiful courtyard. Later the Governor ‘s Palace , buildt in 1613, that has been attached to an new building, includes the Museum Carlismo guarding the collections donated by the Carlist Party.
On Tanners Street preceding the Prison Bridge or San Agustín, you must stop at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This building is from the Romanesque XIII century. The cover of twelve archivolts on the street of the pilgrims is from the fourteenth century and is decorated with statues of the apostles and Santiago Peregrino. The Tanners street leads to the Jewish quarter. There you will find the Gothic convent of Santo Domingo founded in 1259, focus of academic and cultural activity. Next to it stands today’s Church of Santa María Jus del Castillo founded in 1145 and built on the ancient synagogue. Its name refers to the castle of Zalatambor, of which some remains are preserved. It combines Romanesque apses along with Gothic and Baroque façades inside. After years of being closed, it has finally been opened as suitable for the Navarra Romanesque Exhibition.
Upon crossing the Jail Bridge you will arrive at the Church of San Miguel (XII-XIV centuries). The most remarkable aspect is the northern front, with a strong Romanesque sculpture of Cluniac influence. The head of the temple is composed of three apses of the Romanesque style, with the central pointed arch. The altarpiece of Santa Elena is composed of 13 sections of Gothic painting. The altarpiece is done in the baroque style.
On the street Ruiz de Alda, neighboring the church is the Renaissance Palace Eguía (XVI) and the stately mansion of the Ruiz de Alda (XVII), which has a splendid baroque staircase.
The meeting point for the neighbors is the Plaza de los Fueros , surrounded by beautiful buildings (two of them belonging to the eighteenth century) and the Church of San Juan Bautista with its neoclassical facade of the primitive 13th century construction, like the Virgin of the Torches. The Pierres Ricart (1562) inside the altarpiece is particularly noteworthy.
Outside the city lies the Basilica of Our Lady of Puy, a patron saint dedicated to the city, the pilgrimage place, and the place where several miraculous events occured. The present basilica is a 1951 building that retains the old porch. The image of the Virgin of Puy under a canopy shaped eight – pointed star which was used by Charles VII in the First Carlist War is also well preserved.