Although Logroño is today a very modern city, there is plenty of history in its past. Think, for example, that in this vast plains key battles were fought in which the destinies of the medieval kingdoms of Navarre, Leon and Castile were decided.
This happened, among other things, because this area was always a strategic place where routes converged, and borders were marked. And that is way the Camino de Santiago, which also passed through here, ended up being one of the main things responsible for the development of the medieval town.
Also, King Alfonso VI had the pleasure of granting Logroño a charter at the end of the eleventh century, this way the city gained more inhabitants and could take a deep breath. Something that it was needed after the Cid Campeador came here by fire and sword and devastating everything that came into his way. Yes, yes, we are talking about the same Cid that appears in the movies as an example of Christianity, although, in reality, he was a character a bit more complicated.
A century later, after all this, there was already a Romanic church, on which, in time, the current Con-Cathedral of Santa Maria de la Redonda would be built. It is a monument that you cannot miss, either the outside nor the inside where you can find a painting attributed to Michael Angelo himself.
The is no lack of Inquisition history in Logroño either because at the beginning of the seventeenth century the reform process of the witches of Zugarramurdi was discussed here and the so-called Silence Edict was signed. Thanks to the determination of Alonso de Salazar, the document ended the convictions for sorcery in Spain and finished with the habit to file false complaints, which in reality were caused by envy, revenge, greed and other rather miserable reasons, petty and absurd.
Leaving the witches and tortures aside, you can go to see the remaining parts of the city walls and pass by the monument that the city dedicated to the General Baldomero Espartero, a romantic and controversial character who fought in the Carlist Wars, in the Napoleonic Wars, in South America and in any battle that crossed his path. Baldomero was wounded eight times, and he became, in live, a kind of a legendary hero, idolised by the people. So much so, that in Valencia the crowd let the horses of his carriage loose so they could pull it themselves. And so much, that once already old and retired from political life, they even asked him to accept the Spanish Crown. But it seems the man didn’t want any more troubles.
