Bandits and shepherds, warriors and pilgrims, frontiers and links forged the identity of this town. Its name evokes its epic and legendary past because it refers to
Charlemagne. The French king was playing chess in the valley when he heard the horn of his nephew Roland, announcing imminent danger. Roland was fated to die in the forests of Roncesvaux high above Valcarlos. According to the legend, Charlemagne returned from Spain with thousands of damsels dressed as soldiers, after the Muslims has surrendered at his feet. The young girls fell asleep in Luzaide/Valcarlos and when they woke up their spears had turned Into trees, giving rise to the "wood of the spears". The events of the
battle of Roncesvaux (778) are told in the Song of Roland, an epic poem that immortalised the name of both localities for ever.
Another distinguishing feature of the town is its association with the
Way of St. James , which crosses the
Pyrenees through this narrow, steep valley. The border location of Luzaide/Valcarlos, together with its woods and rivers, has moulded it not only physically but also socially and culturally in its relations with its neighbours. The town developed in small and separate neighbourhoods, with Elizaldea at the centre. Here stands the
church of Santiago Apóstol, reconstructed in the 18th and 19th centuries after the old church was destroyed in the war against the French Convention. A
monument to the pilgrim by the sculptor Jorge Oteiza is also located in the centre of the town as a tribute to all the pilgrims on the "European route".
Luzaide/Valcarlos is particularly well-known for conserving some of the
most spectacular and ancestral dancesof Navarre, called the "
Bolantes". Their measured leaps fill the air with colour; a real spectacle to be enjoyed..
Another distinguishing feature of the town is its association with the
Way of St. James , which crosses the
Pyrenees through this narrow, steep valley. The border location of Luzaide/Valcarlos, together with its woods and rivers, has moulded it not only physically but also socially and culturally in its relations with its neighbours. The town developed in small and separate neighbourhoods, with Elizaldea at the centre. Here stands the
church of Santiago Apóstol, reconstructed in the 18th and 19th centuries after the old church was destroyed in the war against the French Convention. A
monument to the pilgrim by the sculptor Jorge Oteiza is also located in the centre of the town as a tribute to all the pilgrims on the "European route".
Luzaide/Valcarlos is particularly well-known for conserving some of the
most spectacular and ancestral dancesof Navarre, called the
Bolantes. Their measured leaps fill the air with colour; a real spectacle to be enjoyed..
Aviso
