Pamplona - Museo de Navarra

In 74 BC, the Roman city was founded by Pompejus on the site of a local settlement. The city served to secure the Pyrenees crossing from Roncesvalles.

Pamplona was destroyed several times in the course of its history:

466 by the Visigoths, 542 by the Franks, 778 by Charlemagne, 924 by Abd ar-Rahman III and in 1521 during the Franco-Spanish War by troops of Francis I.

Its location on the Way of St. James from France gave the capital of the Kingdom of Navarre a boom in the 11th century. With the division of Navarre, the city ultimately came to Spain.

After the conquest of the country and its incorporation into Castile in 1512-1515, Pamplona became one of the outposts of the Spanish crown on the French border. Its mission for 300 years was to secure the border against a possible invasion from France. Fortifications and walls were a vital system of defense, but at the same time prevented the city from expanding.

The museum is located in the old hospital “Nuestra Señora de la Misericordia de Pamplona” from the 16th century. However, only the facade with the main entrance and the former chapel remain of the hospital.


Ramón de Oscáriz

Santa Agueda / 16th century


Agatha of Sicily (Santa Agueda) rejected the marriage proposal of the pagan governor of Sicily, Quintinian, as she had vowed virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Because Agatha had rejected him, the governor had her deported to a brothel for a month. As she still refused him after this time, Quintinianus had her condemned and had her breasts cut off. According to legend, after this torture, St. Peter appeared to her at night and tended to her wounds. When this was noticed, the governor had Agatha placed on red-hot coals, which caused her death.

About a year after her death, Mount Etna erupted and the inhabitants of Catania moved towards the lava flow with the veil of the saint, which then came to a standstill.

She is one of the most highly venerated virgin martyrs of Christian antiquity,