Puerto de Ibañeta

Puerto de Ibañeta is a mountain pass at 1057 metres on the crest of the Pyrenees in the municipality of Valcarlos, Navarra. It marks the border between France and Spain and is the summit of both the Napoleon Route and the lower Valcarlos road before they converge and descend to Roncesvalles below.

The pass is the site of the legendary battle of Roncesvalles in 778, in which the rearguard of Charlemagne’s army was ambushed as it withdrew from Spain. The medieval epic poem, the Chanson de Roland, is set here, and Roland’s horn Olifant is said to have been blown at this spot. A modern chapel, the Ermita de Ibañeta, stands near the original site of a medieval pilgrim hospice.

The transition from the pass to Roncesvalles below is short but dramatic, descending through dense beech forest into the valley that has welcomed pilgrims for over a thousand years.