The small hermitage dedicated to Saint Gregory is an obligatory stop for pilgrims who enter the city through the Stone Bridge and Ruavieja Street.
The Camino de Santiago enter the city of Logroño on Ruavieja Street where the hermitage or chapel of San Gregorio was rebuilt practically in the same place as the previous one was.
History of «La chiquitita»
The old building was buildt in 1642, in the space occupied by the house that according to tradition served as the residence of the saint. In 1038, Pope Benedict IX sent Saint Gregory, bishop of Ostia (Italy), to La Rioja and Navarra to end the insect plagues that were ruining crops and causing great famines in the population.
After blessing the fields, the saint began a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, accompanied by his disciple Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Upon his return, he died on May 9, 1044 in this house.
The old hermitage was a small construction, made of ashlar masonry and covered with a groin vault. It was dismantled in 1971, after the roof collapsed a year earlier. The Logroño city council made the efforts to save the façade. The main art pieces that decorated the hermitage were donated to the Museum of La Rioja by the family that owns the chapel.
Years later, the entire housing area on Ruavieja street was rebuilt.
Thanks to the intervention of the Rotary Club of Logroño and the City Council, the little chapel was rebuilt and inaugurated on May 9, 1994, the day of the feast of San Gregorio.
The original ashlar façade had a door in a semicircular arch with two archivolts, in which the following inscription can be read:
“THIS IS THE BLESSED HOUSE IN QVE BIBIO
SAN GREGORIO AND MVRIO IN HER THE
YEAR 1044, GOING TO SV MVER (TE) /
SANTO DOMINGO DE LA CA (LZA) DAY AND SAN
YVAN DE ORTEGA SVS DISZIPVLOS = YA
ONRA AND GLORIA SVYA / AZER MADE THIS
CHAPEL DON ALONSO DE BVSTAMANTE AND
TORREbLANCA RREGIDO (R) PERPETVO DE
THIS CIVITY WHICH THE HOUSES ARE AND ARE
FINISH YEAR OF 164 (2) ”.
Inside the tiny hermitage, popularly known as “la chiquitita”, remains a painting of San Gregorio. It was restored by the Rotary Club of Logroño. It is a baroque work from the mid-17th century.
The Brotherhood of San Gregorio offers regular guided tours.
Ruavieja Street, 55. 26001 Logroño.
