Between Irache and Luquin

[Bert45]

The attached photo shows a view from the alternative route from Irache to Los Arcos via Luquin. You can see the castle of San Esteban de Deyo on top of the hill above Villamayor de Monjardin. Can you tell me what looks like a monolith is on the left of the photo? Any details - when was it erected? why? height?

 

[mspath]

What a great puzzle this is! Is the built up area in the centerr of your view Urbiola? Have you tried "walking" the alternate with your fingers to see all possible views?

 

[Anne&Pat]

Here are our two pictures of the same monolith taken this year in May, 2022.

The second looking back at it. About 30 minutes apart.

We really enjoyed walking the alternate route to Los Arcos via Luquin. A small number of pilgrims went the same way. The views were wonderful.
But we can’t help to identify the monolith, sorry.

 

[wisepilgrim]

I cannot tell you what it is, but I can tell you where it is. I'm not saying it was built by aliens but... aliens.

42°37'46.7"N 2°05'12.0"W ​

42.629629, -2.086667 ​

 

[wisepilgrim]

Dang, not aliens after all. Here is a summary of what it is, pasted from another travel site:

I found someone who knows. One of the residents of Villamayor de Monjardín was three years old when it was built in 1948. It was a gravity water tower that has since been replaced by pumps.
There is a spring on Montejurra, a mountain some distance away. They actually ran pipes down into the valley and up this hill to a tank that is no longer in or on the tower. The base of the tower is the same altitude as Villamayor de Monjardín, so the residents no longer had to carry water in or truck it. The resident I spoke to owns a vineyard close to Azqueta, so he occasionally had to go up to the tower, which provided his irrigation as well as the running water to Igúzquiza, Azqueta, and Villamayor de Monjardín.
He was not sure what year the Mancomunidad de Montejurra built the current water system that taps into many other springs and rivers to serve a much bigger region. But that's when the tower stopped being used, and the access roads were reclaimed by local agriculture (which is why it is no longer easy to get to). The villages of Azqueta and Villamayor de Monjardín are now supplied by a pump somewhere near autovía A-10.

And here is the original post, with some up close and interior photos of the structure:

What is this tower I found in Spain?

42º37'46.6"N, 2º5'12.15"W No openings on three sides. Door and windows face south. No other openings except ditch from underneath, going north to point straight at Azqueta, but it only goes a sh...

travel.stackexchange.com

 

[Kathor1]

here is the original post, with some up close and interior photos of the structure

As I can see on that website, it was our very own forum member @WGroleau who posted this information about the water tower and the close-up photos.

So it was actually @WGroleau who found a local person who knew, and who also walked to the tower to have a look at it.

As far as I remember from earlier posts, he was a long-term hospitalero at the pilgrim albergue in Villamayor de Monjardin which is only a few kilometres away from the tower.

 

[Bert45]

What a great puzzle this is! Is the built up area in the centerr of your view Urbiola? Have you tried "walking" the alternate with your fingers to see all possible views?

No, the buit-up area is Villamayor de Monjardín. Streetview didn't follow the alternate route, and, even if it had done, it would only show views similar to mine, since the alternative camino does not go near the 'monolith'. However, the main question has been answered, together with one of the minor ones (date? - 1948).

 

[WGroleau]

No, the buit-up area is Villamayor de Monjardín. Streetview didn't follow the alternate route, and, even if it had done, it would only show views similar to mine, since the alternative camino does not go near the 'monolith'. However, the main question has been answered, together with one of the minor ones (date? - 1948).

Our friend said 1948, but since he was three years old that year, he might be a few years off.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

My son walked up to the castle in 2015 after the communal dinner at the Dutch run albergue in Monjardin. It had an intact fortified wall and a locked gate. When he returned to the albergue a hospi told him they have the key for it.
I wonder if other forum members who stayed at the albergue have hiked up to the castle and possibly took pictures inside.

 

[Bert45]

My son walked up to the castle in 2015 after the communal dinner at the Dutch run albergue in Monjardin. It had an intact fortified wall and a locked gate. When he returned to the albergue a hospi told him they have the key for it.
I wonder if other forum members who stayed at the albergue have hiked up to the castle and possibly took pictures inside.

I walked up to the castle this year (June). I was told that it is no longer kept locked, which proved to be true. I didn't take many photos inside the castle – I can only think that there wasn't much left to take photos of, but here they are:

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Thanks, Bert. I'll show them to my son.

 

[WGroleau]

I walked up to the castle this year (June). I was told that it is no longer kept locked, which proved to be true.

In 2015, one had to ask at the bar for the key. But in later years, it was never locked.

 

[Bert45]

If you want a laugh (a smile, at least), read Pete Schloss's account of his visit in 2013: https://mediationkc.com/2021/07/20/part-13-elvis-in-wonderland/
It's over half-way down, beginning: Inside of the bar we were confronted with one man’s tribute to Elvis Presley ...
and if that leads you to reading more of Pete's camino, that's not a bad thing.