Favorites from Spain

I've been tagging a lot on the favorites tags and i've a lot of favorites from Spain. Sonia "soniasadin" sent me these two, the 1st from the community of Navarra with the Javier Castle and the 2nd from La Rioja with the Yuso Monastery, a Unesco WHS.

"The Javier’s castle rises upon a rock in the midst of the locality with the same name, Navarra province, limiting with Zaragoza province. This castle was built in the 10th century; it was reformed in the 12th and 13th centuries and later in the 15th century. The castle was partially destroyed in the year 1516 and this was ordered by Cardinal Cisneros, due to the continuous uprisings taking place there. In the year 1223 the castle belonged to the king of Aragón and in 1236 it went over to the hands of the king of Navarra. In the 16th Century, father San Francisco Javier owned the place and San Francisco Javier was born here, that was a cofounder together with San Ignacio de Loyola, from the Company of Jesus. Javier is a much visited region since the Jacobea Route is very near. The tradition of providing accommodations to pilgrims goes back centuries ago, since the lords of the castle sheltered non residents from the Camino de Santiago (Santiago’s road). The so called “Javieradas” are held in March these are pilgrimages being made up to this place Navarra. People from all ages and from any region of the geography come here, through the roads and paths which are plenty in this peninsular area." - in: http://www.spaincastles.es/navarre/javier%E2%80%99s-castle-san-javier-castle.html

San Millán de Yuso is one of the two monasteries situated in the village of San Millán de la Cogola, La Rioja, Spain. Both monasteries, Yuso and Suso, have been designated a World Heritage Site in 1997.

"The monastic community founded by St Millán in the mid-6th century became a place of pilgrimage. A fine Romanesque church built in honour of the holy man still stands at the site of Suso. It was here that the first literature was produced in Castilian, from which one of the most widely spoken languages in the world today is derived. In the early 16th century the community was housed in the fine new monastery of Yuso, below the older complex; it is still a thriving community today.

The Committee decided to inscribe this property considering that the Monasteries of Suso and Yuso at San Millán de la Cogolla are exceptional testimony to the introduction and continuous survival of Christian monasticism, from the 6th century to the present day. The property is also of outstanding associative significance as the birthplace of the modern written and spoken Spanish language." - in: www.whc.unes.org/en/list/805