Catedral de Santa Maria la Real in Pamplona, Spain.

© SvetlanaSF/Getty Images/iStock

Catedral de Santa María

Pamplona


Pamplona’s cathedral stands on a rise just inside the city ramparts amid a dark thicket of narrow streets. The cathedral is a late-medieval Gothic gem with an an 18th-century neoclassical facade. Artefacts in the vast interior include a silver-plated Virgin and the splendid 15th-century tomb of Carlos III of Navarra and his wife Doña Leonor. The real joy is the Gothic cloister with delicate stonework. Admission includes a guided tour (English available with advance notice).

Fascinating tours take you into the cathedral and, if you're on the 11.15am tour, up the bell tower to see (and possibly hear) the second-largest church bell in Spain. You also visit the cloisters and a small museum, which displays religious treasures, the remaining walls of a Roman-era house discovered under the cathedral during restoration work and the tiny skeleton of a seven-month-old baby found inside the house. The cathedral itself is open daily for free access outside the stated hours, but you can’t access the cloisters or museum.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Pamplona attractions

1. Museo de Navarra

0.26 MILES

Housed in a former medieval hospital, this superb museum has an eclectic collection of archaeological finds (including a number of fantastic Roman mosaics…

3. Monumento al Encierro

0.33 MILES

If you're not in town during the running of the bulls, you can get a dramatic sense of the action at this life-size bronze sculpture. Stretching 4m wide…

4. Ciudadela

0.57 MILES

The walls and bulwarks of the grand fortified citadel, the star-shaped Ciudadela, were built between 1571 and 1645 under the direction of King Felipe II…

5. Fundación-Museo Jorge Oteiza

4.04 MILES

Around 9km northeast of Pamplona in the town of Alzuza, this impressive museum contains almost hundreds of impressive works by the renowned Basque…

6. Santa María de Eunate

11.86 MILES

Surrounded by cornfields and brushed by wild flowers, the near-perfect octagonal Romanesque Santa María de Eunate, 5km east of Puente la Reina, is one of…

7. Santuario de San Miguel de Aralar

18.71 MILES

The austere 9th-century Santuario de San Miguel de Aralar, which lies in the shadow of Monte Altxueta (1343m), is the area's main attraction. Despite its…

8. Ciudad Romana de Andelos

18.89 MILES

The Roman town of Andelos is battered, but its remote and peaceful setting gives it a special romance. The town, which reached its peak between the 1st…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "spain/aragon-basque-country-and-navarra/pamplona/attractions/catedral-de-santa-maria/a/poi-sig/1207944/360740",
      "destination": "Pamplona",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Spain",
      "region": "Navarra",
      "city": "Pamplona",
      "position": "superzone"
    }