Auñamendi Eusko EntziklopediaFund Bernardo Estornés Lasa

Our Lady of Muskilda is located on the upper part of the mountain on which Ochagavía stands, about two kilometres from the town centre. The complex consists of the basilica itself and the hermit’s house, an 18th-century large rural building of three storeys, with a gabled roof and hip rafters. The walls are whitewashed, with ashlar quoins, and the openings are straight, except for the semicircular arch of the entrance.

The hermitage dates from the 12th century, although it underwent significant alterations in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. It has a plan of three naves with three bays each, plus a straight-ended chancel behind which the sacristy and other rooms are located. Originally, it must have ended in a semicircular apse. The main entrance is on the Epistle side, at the level of the second bay, with a secondary entrance in the west wall. The walls are built of rendered rubble masonry with ashlar quoins, and are pierced by four modern windows opened in the chancel.

The naves are separated by columns of circular section and short shafts, upon which the vaults spring. The central nave is covered by a barrel vault, reinforced by thick semicircular transverse arches of quadrangular section, while the side aisles are covered by quarter-barrel vaults, which help to counteract and channel the thrusts. In the side aisles, the transverse arches spring from corbels set into the wall and from pilasters, while in the central nave they rest on the aforementioned columns. The sacristy and the adjoining room are covered by groin vaults.

On the exterior, the tower is located at the west end of the nave, resting on the central nave. It essentially consists of a short shaft formed by a timber framework filled with masonry and plaster, topped by a conical spire with a wooden structure and wooden shingle covering. It is pierced by an oculus, and at its base opens the secondary doorway of the church, with a semicircular arch and two moulded archivolts. On the keystone appears the inscription: “1671 / IHS MARIA HIZO HAZE / R LA VA DE / OCHAGA”. It has an external alfiz. The main doorway of the church, meanwhile, is a semicircular arch with a wide splay, without a tympanum, its opening framed by four archivolts of quadrangular section, slightly chamfered and decorated with ball motifs. These rest on a smooth moulding acting as a continuous capital, and the exterior is protected by a drip moulding.

The interior is dominated by the main altarpiece, located in the presbytery and protected by a Gothic wrought-iron grille. It is Baroque in style, the work of the sculptor Pedro de los Ríos from Sangüesa, and an inscription on the predella provides very precise information: “ESTE RETABLO HIZO HA / CER LA VILLA DE OCHAGA / VIA EN EL AÑO 1672 / EL RETABLO ANTERIOR / A / ESTE HIZO HAZER LA VILLA / DE OCHAGAVIA EN EL AÑO DE 1412”. Its structure consists of a predella, two tiers with three vertical bays, and an attic framed by decorative panels, articulated by Solomonic columns. The side bays contain 17th-century painted panels depicting Pentecost, the Adoration of the Magi, the Dormition of the Virgin, and the Death of Saint Joseph. The central niche is occupied by the image of Our Lady of Muskilda, a Gothic sculpture dating from the late 14th century or the early following century. The remainder of the central bay is occupied by a statue of the Assumption and a Crucifix, both in the Romanist style. A Neoclassical altarpiece dated by inscription to 1808 is kept in an adjoining room, and several pieces of silverwork are preserved in the sacristy.