Discover Goñi: Culture and Trails in the Sierra de Andía

Goñi lies in the Sierra de Andía and is considered the birthplace of the legend of Teodosio de Goñi. The hermitage of San Miguel is associated with this tradition; it preserves a 16th-century coat of arms bearing the inscription GONI. The 971 m-high Mount Txargein rises beside Goñi. The source of the Barranco de Artazu is located near Goñi. Goñi is also one of the local administrative areas whose boundaries were used to define the eastern boundary of the Urbasa-Andía area.

Culture

The Church of San Ciriaco was built between the late 12th and early 13th centuries in the late Romanesque style and ends in a semicircular apse. The older Church of San Ciriaco stands at a higher elevation and has the austere appearance of a fortress. The Parish Church of San Antonio was built in 1935 to replace this older church. San Antonio has a silver processional cross made by the silversmith Gabriel de Ochoa at the beginning of the 17th century.

The houses in the village also preserve distinctive details. The New Palace of Goñi, Larrainagusi, is also known as the Palace of San Miguel. Several houses display a form of construction typical of the 16th century, with large round-arched entrance portals. Some preserve windows with double ogee arches, while others have 17th-century cornices with carved corbels. One exceptional house has medieval fittings on doors that belonged to the Parish Church of San Ciriaco.

The buildings mentioned differ clearly in their function and historical period. Churches, a hermitage, a palace and residential houses offer different perspectives on the history of the village: sacred spaces, the traditional legend, a named palace and preserved architectural details stand side by side.

Landscape

The Trekua Goñi dolmen is part of the Andía dolmen sector. The Peña Blanca dolmen lies on a grassy area near the Andía pastures and can be reached from Goñi. Thus, the area around the village focuses both on evidence of megalithic culture and on open landscapes.

The Goñi–Leziza route passes through a varied landscape of forests, open areas and rocky sections. The ascent leads through a beech forest and over uneven ground. The route then leaves the forest and reaches open terrain near the grassy areas of Andía. The different sections therefore combine woodland, pastureland and rocky passages within the same route description.

Trails

A 2.5 km section can be covered by vehicle and leads close to the heart of the Sierra. The ascent on foot takes about 30 minutes. For planning the day, this means that a vehicle-supported section and a short ascent can be considered separately, while the route also brings together different types of landscape and the cultural and natural surroundings of Goñi.

Another place to visit is Aizpún. Other destinations: Iruñela, Yerri, Ablitas, Ibero, Zugarramurdi, Roncesvalles and Carcastillo.

For the higher-level travel overview: Navarra.