Baztán, el infierno de los Agotes!

The official Church forever mistreated this community; welcome to the hell of the Agotes! Baztán, the hell of the Agotes. The Baztán region is a Spanish municipality in the Foral Community of Navarre, located in the Pamplona region. It is made up of 15 towns, with the capital in the town of Elizondo. It covers an area of ​​373.55 km2 and is inhabited by 7,736 people. It is a territory of great natural beauty created by the waters of the Bidasoa River, which in this area is called Baztán. "Baztán" (all together, in Basque) is a territory that, due to poor communications, was isolated from the rest of the Navarrese pre-Pyrenees until five decades ago. Thanks to this, its towns, villages, and hamlets have maintained intact traditions that continue to amaze us today. It is no coincidence that these mountains, taking advantage of their abundance of natural caves, have served as a refuge, as well as a center of spirituality linked to supernatural forces. Elizondo, the regional capital, is a town that travelers must explore on foot to admire its monumental reddish stone Church of Santiago, the Arizcunenea Palace, and the town hall. The houses in the neighborhood near the river have their farmhouses laden with geraniums and hydrangeas. The next stop on this route through the Baztán Valley is the town of Arizkun, just 5.4 km northeast of Elizondo, along the N-121-B. There, the Ursúa and Vergara palaces will catch the traveler's attention. We know that in the Convent of the Poor Clares, whose heavy façade of the Church of Our Lady of the Angels was designed by Churriguera, the nuns were prohibited from entering the convent. Even the Mother Abbess did not allow any novice of Agote origin to wear the habit. It was common for Agotes who entered the church to pray or hear Mass to use a separate font and could only take holy water with a stick, which they then used to cross themselves. Furthermore, to follow the religious services, they had to stand under the choir stall, at one end of the church, so as to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Opposite is the Church of St. John the Baptist, whose second door, intended for the entrance and exit of Agotes, is blocked.