Situated in mid-eastern Navarra, on a small hill that rises up along the banks of the river Cidacos.
Castle-Royal Palace
The Royal Palace of Olite is a dream castle, with an interior of glazed tiles, sculptured and painted ceilings, hanging gardens on high walls and towers, each with its own name: Torre de las Atalayas, Torre de los Cuatro Vientos, Torre de las Cigueñas, etc. In 1813 the Spanish General Espoz y Mina set light to the castle to avoid it being occupied by the French forces. Little by little the restoration of this beautiful monument has been carried out to return it to its original glory. Its exuberant and cleverly disordered architecture is completed by two churches: the old royal chapel, Santa María la Real, gothic in style and with a sculptured façade from the 14th century, with scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary, and the Church of San Pedro, in a Romanesque-gothic transition style, with a very fine gothic spire and an older Romanesque cloister.
