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Wise Pilgrim APPViana is the last town in Navarra and it wants you to know it has been here a while. The fortifications are obvious — the town perches on a ridge, its walls built high and thick to defend the Navarrese border against Castile and, later, La Rioja. The strategic logic is visible in every street.
The Iglesia de Santa María has a magnificent Renaissance facade — one of the finest in Navarra. At its base, a marble slab marks the grave of Cesare Borgia, who was killed in the fields outside Viana on March 11, 1507. The son of Pope Alexander VI and the model for Machiavelli's Prince, Borgia died in an ambush during a siege — a suitably dramatic end for a dramatic life. The epitaph reads simply: "Generalísimo de los ejércitos de Navarra y Pontificios."
The ruins of the Iglesia de San Pedro sit at the west end of town near a small park with views over the plains to the west and the mountains to the north. Several albergues, a handful of bars, and a few good restaurants (the Armendariz has a sidrería in the basement where you serve your own cider — a two-person operation involving careful aim and a bucket) make Viana worth more than a quick pass-through.
All services are available: pharmacy, ATM, supermarket.
Viana celebrates with enthusiasm. The major fiestas include San Felices (February 1), the combined Magdalena and Santiago celebrations (July 21-25), and the Fiesta de la Virgen de Nieva — a movable feast held from the Saturday to Wednesday that includes the first Sunday after September 8. The town occasionally closes its streets for a running of the bulls, so don't be surprised if your arrival coincides with temporary barricades and the sound of hooves.
Viana was founded in 1219 as a frontier fortress, and its walls held off several prolonged sieges over the following centuries. The town changed hands repeatedly as the border between Navarra and Castile shifted. The concentration of fortifications — the high perch, the thick walls, the multiple gates — reflects centuries of contested territory.
Cesare Borgia arrived in Viana as a general in the service of his brother-in-law, King Juan III of Navarra. He was killed on March 11, 1507, during a skirmish outside the town walls. He was originally buried inside the church, but his remains were later moved to the entrance — whether as a mark of respect for his rank or disrespect for his character depends on which version of the story you prefer.
Leaving Viana, you cross the border into La Rioja. The transition is gradual — the landscape opens up as you descend from Viana's ridge toward the Ebro valley. The Ermita de la Virgen de las Cuevas marks the old boundary, and from there the approach to Logroño is flat and increasingly urban.
