Collegiate Church of Roncesvalles

The Augustinian monastery is an important pilgrimage station on the Way of St. James. It was renovated a few years ago and now offers many pilgrims good overnight accommodation.

"The monastery church, through which pilgrims were smuggled for centuries, is richly furnished. The altar with its golden balcachin in particular documents the gratitude of the pilgrims for having managed this difficult stage. The large monastery made of solid gray stones stands mighty and proud on the mountain slope ."
(Jo Hagen in "Buen Camino. Diary of a bicycle trip on the Way of St. James".
ISBN 978-3-753-45397-2)

When the pilgrim on the Way of St. James - coming from the (French) Pyrenees town of 'Saint Jean Pied de Port' - has now reached Spain with the large monastery of Roncesvalles, the "Camino Frances" begins with the last 800 kilometers to the destination of the pilgrimage route, the tomb of the apostle James (the Greater) in 'Santiago de Compostela'.