Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Isaba/Izaba

What to see and do in Isaba/Izaba (Pirineo, Navarra): 6 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Isaba/Izaba

Towns near Isaba/Izaba

Spain › Chartered Community of Navarre › Pirineo › Isaba/Izaba

What to see and do in Isaba/Izaba

Isaba/Izaba
Village
Isaba/Izaba, the head town of the upper Roncal valley at 816 m altitude and 94 km from Pamplona, has 384 inhabitants (INE 2025) over 147.41 km². The valley appears documented since the 11th century in a deed of donation to the monastery of Burdaspal. During the Peninsular War, the local guerrilla forces achieved notable victories against Napoleonic troops.
Iglesia de San Cipriano, Isaba
Monument
The parish church of Isaba, which preserves a Baroque organ built in 1751 by Silvestre Thomás of Zaragoza.
Basílica de Idoia, Isaba
Monument
It houses a 13th-century Gothic image of the Virgin, the object of pilgrimages from the villages of the Roncal valley.
Mesa de los Tres Reyes
Nature
In the municipal area of Isaba rises the Mesa de los Tres Reyes, the highest peak in Navarre; sources vary between 2,428 and 2,446 m depending on the reference, with 2,444 m being the most commonly cited figure. It owes its name to marking the old meeting point of the kingdoms of Navarre, Aragón, and France (today, of Navarre with Huesca and with the French Béarn).
"Secretos del corazón" en Isaba
Curiosity
The Navarrese director Montxo Armendáriz filmed scenes of "Secrets of the Heart" (1997) in Isaba and its surroundings, a film that was among the finalists for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Tributo de las Tres Vacas
Historical milestone
Every 13 July, representatives of the Navarrese Roncal valley and the French Baretous valley meet at the Piedra de San Martín, at 1,721 m altitude on the Ernaz pass, for the Tributo de las Tres Vacas (Tribute of the Three Cows): the mayor of Isaba, as president of the ceremony, asks the Baretous representatives three times whether they will pay the tribute; after their affirmative answer and the "Pax avant" gesture with hands placed on the boundary marker, three cows of Pyrenean breed are handed over, following a veterinary inspection. Isaba receives two of the animals, and Uztárroz, Urzainqui, and Garde take turns receiving the third each year. The first documented ruling in the dispute that gave rise to the tribute dates from 16 October 1375, following the clashes of 1373, although its origin may go back to the invasion by the Cimbri and Baretous peoples in 125 BC. It is considered the oldest treaty still in force in Europe, and the Government of Navarre declared it an intangible Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) on 24 January 2011.