Urdax - Urdazubi Abbeys, Churches, Monasteries, Priories in Urdax

Although it is not possible to determine the exact date of its origin, it is believed that it was in the 9th century that a small congregation of Augustinian friars established a hospital for pilgrims here. Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the hospital was run by the Premonstratensian order whose abbot was the Sieur d'Urdax and Zugarramurdi until the year 1785.

There remains no trace of the medieval period, the peak of its splendor being between the 16th and 18th centuries, the period from which the current constructions date.

The monastery suffered two major fires: in 1526 (when Navarre lost its independence) and in 1793 (during the convention in France, when French troops invaded the area and burned down the monastery and the town of Urdax). This last fire destroyed the great library of the monastery, with more than 9,000 volumes.

After the French convention (1793-1795), the monks were forced to take refuge in the sanctuary of Loyola until 1806. Shortly after, in 1830, it was the "désamortización" of Mendizabal (Spanish minister who expropriated and sold property belonging to the Church). The monastery was permanently abandoned by the Premonstratensian order and the monastery temple became a parish church.

Of the old monastery only the church and the cloister remain which, together with other dependencies, constitute the monastery museum and the art exhibition.

The Museum of Liturgical Ornaments, promoted by the Friends of the Way of Saint-Jacques association of Urdax-Baztan, is located in the same outbuildings of the former monastery, as is the permanent exhibition entitled "50 years of Painting in the Basque Country".

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