Viana was founded in 1219 by Sancho VII of Navarre as a fortified town guarding the kingdom's western frontier with Castile. The new town attracted pilgrims from the older Jacobean route nearby, and several hospitals and religious institutions provided accommodation and assistance during the Middle Ages.
Parts of the medieval walls and towers survive, together with later openings through the defences. Pilgrims today enter the old town through the Portal de la Trinidad, created in the 17th-18th centuries.
What to see in Viana
Iglesia de Santa María
The Iglesia de Santa María de la Asunción was built in the Gothic style in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Its Renaissance south portal and tower, along with its Baroque main altarpiece, were added during later renovations. The church is also the burial place of Cesare Borgia, commander of the armies of Navarre, who was killed near Viana in 1507. He was originally buried inside the church, but his remains were later removed and reinterred in the church atrium in 1953, where a marble slab now marks his grave.
Iglesia de San Pedro
The ruins of the Iglesia de San Pedro are the remains of Viana's first parish church, built in the 13th century and incorporated into the town's western fortifications. After serving as a military barracks during the Napoleonic period and the First Carlist War, the church collapsed in 1844 following structural problems linked to later alterations. The former cemetery surrounding the church is now the Jardines de Serrat, a public park with views westwards across the Ebro Valley towards Logroño and the Sierra de Cantabria.
Where to stay in Viana
