The portal is cut into the base of the tower. It is the handsomest front of the building, though in a rather dilapidated state; the sculptural decorations of the three arches, as well as the aerial reliefs of the tympanum, are true to the period in which they were conceived.
The sacristy encloses a primitive wooden effigy of the Virgin; it is of greater historic than artistic value. There is also a[{195}] famous picture attributed now to Van Dyck, now to Murillo; it represents Christ in the arms of his mother, and Mary Magdalene weeping on her knees beside the principal group. The picture is known by the name of Piety or La Piedad.
The high altar, instead of being placed to the east of the transept, as is generally the case, is set beneath the croisée, in the circular area formed by the intersection of nave and transept. The view of the interior is therefore completely obstructed, no matter where the spectator stands.
VIII
UPPER RIOJA
To the south of Navarra and about a hundred miles to the west of Burgos, the Ebro River flows through a fertile vale called the Rioja, famous for its claret. It is little frequented by strangers or tourists, and yet it is well worth a visit. The train runs down the Ebro valley from Miranda to Saragosse. A hilly country to the north and south, well wooded and gently sloping like the Jura; nearer, and along the banks of the stream, huertas or orchards, gardens, and vineyards offer a pleasant contrast to the distant landscape, and produce a favourable impression, especially when a village or town with its square, massive church-tower peeps forth from out of the foliage of fruit-trees and elms.
Such is Upper Rioja—one of the prettiest spots in Spain, the Touraine, one might almost say, of Iberia, a circular region of about[{197}] twenty-five miles in radius, containing four cities, Logroño, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Nájera, and Calahorra.
The Roman military road from Tarragon to Astorga passed through the Rioja, and Calahorra, a Celtiberian stronghold slightly to the south, was conquered by the invaders after as sturdy a resistance as that of Numantia itself. It was not totally destroyed by the conquering Romans as happened in the last named town; on the contrary, it grew to be the most important fortress between Leon and Saragosse.
When the Christian religion dawned in the West, two youths, inseparable brothers, and soldiers in the seventh legion stationed in Leon, embraced the true religion and migrated to Calahorra. They were beheaded after being submitted to a series of the most frightful tortures, and their tunics, leaving the bodies from which life had escaped, soared skywards with the saintly souls, to the great astonishment of the Roman spectators. The names of these two martyr saints were Emeterio and Celedonio, who, as we have seen, are worshipped in Santander; besides, they are also the patron saints of Calahorra.[{198}]