The whole of La Rioja is full of charming villages that take you back to other times and make you imagine what life was like in those same streets 50, 100 or 500 years ago.
There is no doubt that if you went from village to village in La Rioja you would find in each one of them more than one of the following a reason for his visit.
Often, however, time does not allow us to explore the territory with the care it deserves. And that is why there are lists like this one, where we try to gather a sample of the area that faithfully represents all the charm it has to offer.
In this article you will find 5 villages near Haro in La Rioja Alta which more than fulfil this role.
Although the closeness to each other is a reality, the first 3, Cuzcurrita, Sajazarra and Cellorigo, are particularly close to each other, as are Briones and San Vicente de la Sonsierra.
See what secrets they hide these 5 villages of La Rioja.
1. Cuzcurrita de Río Tirón a magical village
Cuzcurrita de Río Tirón is a village of around 500 inhabitants full of unique corners where one breathes history, culture and nature.
Your OLD TOWN is of great beauty full of mansions with coats of arms and historic buildings such as the church of San Miguel or the castle of the Velasco family among others. And all this bathed by the river Pull that crosses the village surrounded by gardens.
It was the first magical village of La Rioja in Spain and you can discover that magic just by strolling through its streets.
Church of San Miguel Arcángel in Cuzcurrita
The Custody of La Rioja stands imposingly in the Plaza Mayor, the imposing St Michael's ChurchThis is an 18th century building in which the Italian Baroque of the main façade blends with the Riojan style of the tower that crowns it.
Castle of the Velasco family in Cuzcurrita de Río Tirón
Also in the historic centre is the castle which was built at the end of the 15th century by Pedro Suárez de Figueroa. It is a walled enclosure with cubes at the corners and a slender keep, which has no windows in its walls.
In the 16th century, during the reign of Philip II, Pedro de Velasco, IX lord of Cuzcurrita, founded an entailed estate when he married Marta de Rojas y Osorio, by carving out the coat of arms of the pointed arched doorway on the north wall, defended by a beautiful matacan.
In the back of the castleNext to the washhouse is the waterfall that falls from the channel that starts at the dam and joins the river Tirón at this point.
El Bolo and Barrio de las Bodegas de Cuzcurrita
Cuzcurrita, like many other villages in La Rioja, has a cuevas neighbourhood dug out of the stone and used as cellars. Cuzcurrita reached 240 wineries excavated at the foot of El Bolo mountain at four different heights. However, a landslide on this mountain destroyed a large number of these constructions.
At the top of the Bolo is the the Rollo which was a symbol of the lordship exercised over the Villa.
Bolo has always been the viewpoint par excellence of Cuzcurrita, From here you can see the whole town, as well as other nearby localities.
El Trinquete and El Lavadero
Until the new sports centre was opened in 1999, pelota was played in Cuzcurrita in the Trinquete, a fronton built in the 19th century in ashlar stone with 3 walls.
Passing under the bridge, we come across the laundry built in 1862 next to the river Tirón where until the 20th century the people of Cuzcurrita used to wash by hand.
Next to the washhouse is an old 18th century flour mill which was later used as a power station.
The Stone Bridge and the Wooden Bridge
The stone bridge was built in the 15th century and between the 18th and 19th centuries it was remodelled and widened. It connects the centre of the village with the district of the wineries, as well as being a necessary passage to reach other towns. From the stone bridge of Cuzcurrita you can see the most representative monuments of the town, such as the castle and the church.
The wooden bridge is a pedestrian footbridge that was built in the first decade of the 20th century on the site of an earlier wooden bridge.
El Tirón and Cuzcurrita Dam
The river Tirón flows through Cuzcurrita, as its surname indicates. This is a key element in the life of the town and gives beauty to the village with its parks and promenades on both sides of it.
From the castle waterfall begins a path leading to the damCuzcurrita's bathing area par excellence. It is a pleasant walk among poplars at the foot of the canal.
The Hermitages of Sorejana and Tironcillo
The Chapel of Our Lady of Sorejana is located 1.5 km upstream from Cuzcurrita.
It is a construction of late Romanesque style from the 13th century. The 12th century baptismal font can be found in the church of San Miguel.
At the foot of the church is a necropolis of what was once the village of Sorejana.
For its part, the Nuestra Señora de Tironcillo Hermitage is situated 3 km from Cuzcurrita downstream of the river Tirón near the neighbouring villages of Tirgo and Cihuri.
It was built in the mid-18th century in baroque style.
For accommodation in Cuzcurrita we recommend you to stay in Hotel Teatrisso.
And if you are looking for a unique experience Rainbow Balloons offers a complete balloon flight experience from its facilities in Cuzcurrita.
*If you want an aperitif before visiting Cuzcurrita you can take a virtual tour through its streets.
*Just 6 kilometres from Cuzcurrita is Sajazarra.
2. Sajazarra one of the most beautiful villages in Spain
Sajazarra is a village with about 130 inhabitants and was the first village in La Rioja to be declared a "village of the Rioja". one of the most beautiful in Spain.
It is a small town that you can cover in just 1 hour, but that will surprise you for its its imposing castle and some curious details in its streets.
You can parking in the car park at the entrance to the village as traffic is limited inside the village.
Castle of Sajazarra in La Rioja Alta
In the 15th century there was a primitive tower in Sajazarra that was destroyed for building the castle which, a century later, continued to undergo remodelling and changes until it became the imposing construction that we can see today.
Its history is linked to that of Haro, which passed into Castilian hands in 1430. Its owner, Pedro Fernández de Velasco, also owned other castles such as Cerezo, Ojacastro and Arnedo. It belonged to the Counts of Nieva and defended the northern part of the town and the road from Haro to Miranda.
The tower of homage rises above the rest of the building. It is located in the centre of the fortress. It is rectangular in shape and has four octagonal-shaped garitons at its corners.
The entry is framed by two cubes which serve as an aid to its defence. It seems that the fortress had a moat that is now covered.
Like all these buildings, the material used for its construction was stone. Its state of conservation he is very good at being a holder private.
Church of Santa María de la Asunción
The church of the Assumption of Sajazarra dates back to the XIIth century. Built in ashlar stone and masonry, it is the sum of constructions from various periods.
Inside rests the image of the Virgin of Antigua and has a Renaissance altarpiece.
Remains of the wall and gate of the Arch
The layout of the walltrapezoidal in shape, is from the second half of the 13th centuryIt dates back to the time of Alfonso X the Wise, and today can only be recognised at the back of the houses.
Of the four doors owned by Sajazarra is still preserved, the so-called el Arclocated between the church and the old Town Hall, Gothic from the 14th or 15th century.
Hermitage of Santa María de Cillas
One and a half kilometres from Sajazarra in the direction of Castilseco, you will find the Cillas Chapel.
It is a Herrerian Romanesque building of ashlar masonry and masonry of the 13th century.
It was renovated between the 16th and 18th centuries, and later in 1945.
It has a neoclassical altarpiece by Leonardo Gurrea around 1804, as well as a Baroque pulpit and lectern. From this hermitage comes the Virgin of CillasThe patron saint of the town, which is now in the parish church.
*Following the LR-209 road you reach Cellorigo, another of the villages near Haro that we recommend you visit, 8 kilometres from Sajazarra.
But before reaching Cellorigo on the LR-209 there is a detour to Castilseco where you will find Bodegas Ruiz Alfaya with Winebara place to stop and enjoy a glass of wine and a tapa.
3. Cellorigo the pulpit of La Rioja
Cellorigo is located at 782 metres altitude and has barely 10 inhabitants, making it one of the most uninhabited villages near Haro.
Your strategic location made there would be a castle of which there are references to around the 10th century, but of which not even the ruins exist today.
From this picturesque village we are interested in their magnificent viewsIt is also the starting point for various hiking routes.
Hermitage of Santa María del Barrio
About 500 metres before you reach Cellorigo on the main road you can visit the ruins of the hermitage of Santa María del Barrio.
Temple Romanesque built in the 12th century which underwent a total renovation around the 18th century, taking advantage of the straight chancel of the original sanctuary.
Parish church of San Millán in Cellorigo
The present church is built on an earlier one dating from the 10th-11th centuriesIt was built in Mozarabic style and was dedicated to San Millán and Santiago. The current construction dates from fifteenth centuryalthough with later reconstructions.
The church was built in ashlar and has the singularity of being composed of two naves, divided into three sections. Of particular note is the four-bodied towerThe sacristy, built by Juan de Terrenos in 1598, and the sacristy located in the central section, built in 1734 by Matías Estanillo. Next to it is the chapel of Santa Ana built in 1714 by Martín Eleajalde.
The portico is covered by a wooden ceiling, where the 18th century doors and the 16th century iron railings stand out. Inside is the burial chapel of Juan Frías SalazarThe tomb with the recumbent image is located in the church of the dead at the end of the 15th century.
The main altarpiece is from the 17th century in the classicist style, in three sections divided into three streets, presided over in the centre by a carving of San Millán Matamoros.
La Fuente Vieja and Hiking Routes
The Old Fountain is located on the northern slope and has an 18th century roof.
From Cellorigo are born different hiking trails that take you into the mountains and allow you to cross the border to Burgos between trails.
4. Briones, another of the most beautiful villages in Spain.
Briones has about 750 inhabitants and since 2018 it is considered a one of the most beautiful villages in Spain.
It won't take you long to find out why. A leisurely stroll through its streets is enough to appreciate the charm of this town.
In addition, in Briones the riojan landscape is shown in all its splendour with hectares of wine-growing.
Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Briones
The church of the Assumption was built in the 16th century, masonry masonry and designed as a hall plan, according to the Elizabethan Gothic style.
Made up of five sections, it is complemented by a octagonal headboard The church has a three-span nave, a choir loft with a baroque organ, side chapels and a sacristy.
The baroque tower, belonging to the so-called "Rioja style".was built by Martín de Beratúa and Martín de Arbe.
Palace of the Marquis of San Nicolas - Town Hall
This is the characteristic construction of the baroque civil architecture in La Rioja in the 18th century. This palace was commissioned by Don Esteban de Francia, second Marquis of San Nicolás.
It is built in stone with the main façade facing the Plaza España and another one facing the Cerca with the same layout, but with a simpler decoration. In the last century, when the Marquis was appointed mayor, moved the municipal offices to its house and with time the Briones Town Council was definitively established there.
Nowadays, the Palace of the Marquis of San Nicolás is owned by the Autonomous Community of La Rioja and after a thorough restoration carried out by the Ministry of Culture, which was completed in 1996, it shares its space with the Town Hall of La Villa and the Exhibition Centre.
It includes the Enchanted House o Ethnographic Museum which evokes a traditional house of La Rioja which shows how the people of our villages lived until the middle of the 20th century.
Briones keep
The old Briones fortress whose urban configuration was born out of the defensive character that this privileged place has had throughout history, border between Castile and Navarre.
We know that in 1240 the castle of Briones and several others who had D. Diego López de Haro, were demolished by Ferdinand III.
The castle enclosure was completed with that of the town centre by means of walls in which they were opened 6 doors.
The building stretches from north-east to south-west following a elongated trapezoidal layout. From the castle grounds only part of the outer wall remains.There is a 2-metre-thick wall built in masonry with reinforcing ashlars, which sits on the rock.
At the south-west end of the enclosure was closed by the Keepbuilt in ashlar with three floors and crowned by a cornice on matacán corbels, collapsed in 1940, although three sections remain and were restored in 2005.
Briones and its 7 hermitages
Hermitage of San Juan or Cristo de los Remedios:
Built in the XVIIIth century The church is a sandstone masonry building, an example of the Riojan stonework of the period. It is a temple with octagonal plan and enveloping curved lines.
Hermitage of the Holy Martyrs:
A mere 2 km from the village, on the southern slopes of the Mendiguera Hill the hermitage of Los Mártires is located, as the remains of a ancient settlement. It was built in the 15th century with a rectangular floor plan with a single nave divided into five bays.
Very close to this location you can visit some cave wine presses.
Chapel of La Concepción:
Once again we find ourselves in an enclave that was a settlement in the past and where today we can find the Ermina de la Concepción, a few kilometres away. 5 km from the centre of Briones.
Built in the 17th century, its chancel is occupied by an elegant Romanesque altarpiece made at the end of the 16th century by Pedro de Arbulo and Hernando de Murillas el Viejo.
Hermitage of Santa Lucia:
Nestled in a beautiful landscape half a kilometre from the village, it has a single nave with six bays whose chancel appears to be the work of the XVIth centuryalthough it has undergone successive enlargements.
Hermitage of San Andrés:
It stands next to that of Santa Lucia and on the same road. XVIth century using ashlars from quarries in the area near the Ebro.
Hermitage of San Bartolomé:
About two kilometres northwest of Briones, on a hill with magnificent views of the Ebro valley. is the hermitage of San Bartolomé.
It is a simple building half rock-hewn in living rock half built in masonry.
It is fully sunk.
Calvario Chapel:
Small building a few kilometres from the centre of Briones.
For accommodation in Briones we recommend Santa Maria Brionesa 4-star boutique hotel with its own Allegar restaurant. In addition, you can enjoy a visit and tasting at a family winery by the hand of Betolaza Winery.
*Following the LR-210 road you reach San Vicente de la Sonsierra in just 4 kilometres.
5. San Vicente de la Sonsierra a sea of vineyards
San Vicente de la Sonsierra has a population of 1,000 inhabitants and holds the title of Villa Divisera for its strategic location.
Your views of the landscape of the Rioja vineyards, of the course of the Ebro River and from the Sonsierra will leave you open-mouthed.
In addition, St. Vincent has a extensive historical heritage covering different periods and in a good state of preservation.
Medieval bridge over the river Ebro
The bridge of San Vicente de la Sonsierra is located to the west of the town, below the castle, on the local road from Briones to Peñacerrada. It is the first thing we see if we access it from this road.
Due to its excellent position, it defended the Ebro crossing of the border between Navarre and Castile. It is possible that its existence dates back to 1172, however, the earliest preserved can be traced back to the 13th century.
It consisted of thirteen pointed archeson triangular cutwater piles and rectangular spurs and two defensive towers, one in the centre, and probably another at the entrance on the left bank. This construction was rebuilt at the end of the 16th century, becoming a bridge with twelve arches and a single tower.
It is built in ashlar and masonry. Currently has nine archesin different lights and shapes.
Parish Church of Santa María la Mayor
The church of Santa María la Mayor is the parish church of San Vicente de la Sonsierra. It was built in the 16th century in the late Gothic. Together with the ruins of the castle and the Vera Cruz hermitage, they form a monumental complex located within the former walled enclosure of the town.
The church was built in the parade ground of the castle located in the top of a hill overlooking the river Ebrofollowing the integration of the Kingdom of Navarre into the Kingdom of Castile in 1512.
The tower is the most characteristic element of San Vicente, located at the foot of the southern façade, next to the portico. It is a prismatic construction with asymmetrical faces, Single-bodied and undecorated.
The main altarpiece it is a grandiose structure Renaissance Mannerist stylealthough with traces of the earlier Plateresque style.
Vera Cruz Hermitage or San Juan de Arriba Hermitage
Located within the Walled Enclosure, just a metre away from the head of Santa María la Mayor. It is a free-standing building of very small dimensionsIt consists of a single nave with a short section covered with a pointed half-barrel vault and, separated by a pointed triumphal arch on pilasters, a rectangular chancel with a ribbed vault.
The doorway, under a pointed arch, opens at noon. It probably functioned as a Castle Chapel.
This chapel-hermitage kept parish functions The church of San Vicente de la Sonsierra until the construction of the church of Santa María in the 16th century. Since the mid-17th century it has been the headquarters of the Confraternity of Santa Vera-Cruz of the Disciplinantes, organiser of the penance of public self-flagellation known as the Picaos.
Castle of San Vicente de la Sonsierra
The castle of San Vicente is a former military construction located in a hill overlooking the Ebro valley. It is located in the highest part of the town centre of San Vicente de la Sonsierra and is part of the walled complex.
It is a castle medieval military fortress built in the XIIth century by the kingdom of Navarre for the defence of its southern border with Castile, in the Ebro valley.
Basilica of Our Lady of Remedies
It builds on an existing one outside the village. The image of the patron saint, a 13th century stone carvingThe ruinous state of the previous hermitage suggests that it may have been Romanesque or transitional to Gothic, which, due to its ruinous state, was rebuilt in the early years of the XVIIIth century with the contributions of the villagers and the works will last for 30 years.
Its architecture is from the neoclassical renaissance and the baroque altarpiece well gilded and preserved.
The Our Lady of Remedies It has become a fundamental point of reference for local devotions and legend has it that it was found by chance in the Aliende area (facing San Vicente de la Sonsierra) together with the Cristo de los Remedios de Briones (which faced Briones).
San Roque Chapel
Located within the town centre near the main square, it is a small construction baroque from the beginning of the XVII.
In the past it was Romanesque hermitage outside the walls and was dedicated to two saints (San Sebastián and San Roque) but it disappeared, and the current chapel was built on the same site in 1775.
Other hermitages in San Vicente de la Sonsierra
Chapel of San Martín de Nava:
It belonged to the settlement of San Martín de la Sonsierra and it must have been a monastic churchIn fact, the esplanade on which it stands is still known as the "the friars' garden".
The preserved building now belongs to the late Romanesque of the second half of the 12th or 13th century. All indications are that a primitive Mozarabic building It underwent a reform in the 13th century, when it was given a Romanesque vaulting. Thus, although it is basically a Romanesque construction, there is evidence to suggest that it was built on top of another Romanesque structure. pre-Romanesque.
It was restored in 1986.
Hermitage of San Martín de los Monjes:
Not to be confused with the previous hermitage, San Martín de Nava.
The lost hermitage of San Martín de los Monjeswas located 1 km to the west of the previous one and was the parish church of another medieval settlement, the one of Mutilluri.
Chapel of Nuestra Señora de la Peña:
In a altozano On the road to Montebuena we can see the remains of the Hermitage of Nuestra Señora de la Peña. It seems to have been initially built and later rebuilt, as there are columns with two different types of arches.
Next to the hermitage we find a hermitage dating from much earlier, which was accessed from the outside. When the hermitage was built, an entrance was provided from inside the hermitage.
Necropolis of San Andrés
San Vicente de la Sonsierra has a large early medieval necropolis with a seventy graves, remains of a old hermitage, two cave wine presses and a RITUAL POOL possibly converted into a wine press.
There are some seventy anthropomorphic tombswith different typologies. The burials of children and young people alternate with those of adults. As well as tomb 15, which corresponds to a mother and child.
Excavated on the southern slope of the westernmost part of the necropolis is the church, the remains of which are connected to the boundary of a vineyard. Today, only the north side is preserved, carved in a beak, perhaps corresponding to a the old hermitage of San Andrés.
There is two wine presses excavated in the rock, consisting of a large circular enclosure on a slope, where the grapes were deposited, and an adjoining tank of greater depth, connected to the previous one by a small channel, in which the juice was collected.
On the southern edge of the necropolis there is a RITUAL POOL with a rectangular shape and a drain to evacuate the water, which may have been converted into a wine press. It was built after the necropolis was abandoned, 12th or 13th century.
Hermitage of Orzales and Hermitages of Gobates
Orzales is a village that no longer exists, which was located near the summit of Toloño and is now part of the municipality of San Vicente de la Sonsierra.
Of this village, the only remnant that remains is the Orzales Hermitage and is in danger of disappearing. This church was dedicated to Saint Bartholomew.
Next to the hermitage of Orzales we can find the Gobates hermitages. Two curious hermitages with anthropomorphic tombs inside. One faces east and the other west. In the surrounding area there are several cave wine presses and the remains of an old building.
They are well signposted and it is a route that does not involve any difficulty.
*To visit Orzales and the Eremitorios you can do so from the town of Rivas de Tereso.
Hopefully this information will help you to organise your trip to La Rioja and discover some of the most beautiful villages near Haro. And if you also want to know what to see in Haro In this article we list the city's main attractions.
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