Navarrete

Navarrete is a municipality in La Rioja, situated on the Camino Frances in the wine and pottery country between Logroño and Nájera. The town has a medieval character with narrow streets climbing to the sixteenth-century church of La Asunción, whose elaborate Plateresque portal was salvaged from the demolished medieval pilgrim hospital of San Juan de Acre.

The portal, originally built for the hospital chapel in the twelfth century and now incorporated into the later church, is a remarkable Romanesque survival featuring carved monsters, biblical scenes, and decorative arcading. The town also has a traditional pottery industry, with the local red clay terrain producing the characteristic terracotta ceramics of La Rioja.

For pilgrims, Navarrete is a well-serviced stop with architectural and craft interest, the portal fragments and the pottery culture giving it a distinctive identity in the wine country landscape.