Aibar / Oibar

Aibar is a journey back in time. Here, the cobbled streets, laid out on the hillside that once marked the historic border with the Kingdom of Aragon, seem to hold ancient secrets in every cobblestone. In this town in eastern Central Navarre, the ashlar blocks and the outline of the Sierra de Izco create a landscape where the memory of forgotten defences and ancient trades unfolds as if it had always been there. 

They call it the village of the goblins, a name whose origin has been lost in the echo of the centuries, but which still beats in the very essence of the place, revealing itself in arches that conceal passageways, in narrow streets that invite you to lose your way, and in the silent mystery of its hilltop neighbourhoods.

Aibar general information

Our town stands in the Sangüesa region , perched 531 metres above sea level, in the heart of the Aibar valley. Its identity beats in a centre where Basque and Spanish intertwine, weaving a delicate balance in the so-called mixed zone. The chronicles trace its history back to the year 882, when the Aybaria hill fort was mentioned, a witness to a strategic past that still resonates in the solidity of its medieval walls and in the enduring traditions born of the land, such as the liquid gold extracted in its ancient oil mill.

What to see in Aibar?

Aibar is an open-air museum that invites you to stroll around, keeping a close eye on the details of its façades.

• Church of San Pedro: This 12th-century Romanesque building crowns the town’s hill. Its structure features three naves and sculpted capitals, housing within it the Cristo del Amparo, a two-metre-tall Gothic carving that reflects medieval artistic sensibility.
• Old Town and Portal de la Hueca: A stroll through the streets reveals civil architecture that preserves remnants of the old town wall. The Portal de la Hueca marks the highest point of the hill, where the first settlement was protected under the watch of a defensive castle that no longer stands.
• Plaza de la Virgen: A porticoed passageway with large Gothic pointed arches. The arches still preserve the ring to which blasphemers were chained, bearing witness to the town’s former civil and judicial practices.
• House-Museum of Trades and Memory: A space housing the restored machinery of the cooperative oil mill and an old bread oven. The exhibition of rural objects and artefacts offers an insight into the knowledge and ways of life linked to the fruits of our land.
• Renewable Energy Centre: Located in the former town hall, this centre applies bioclimatic principles to technical outreach. Its presence in the medieval quarter demonstrates the adaptation of heritage to the region’s new energy needs.
• Vizcaya Ice House: Situated five kilometres from the town centre, this 18th-century ice house showcases the engineering techniques used to preserve food through the use of natural cold.