Encomienda is an old and rarely employed Spanish word meaning place or territory that in the past was given to some Chevaliers and Military Orders. This one in Cizur Menor, at a stone throw from Pamplona, dating from the XII century, belong to the Priorato of Navarre and was given to the Sovereign and Military Order of Malta, one of the many encomiendas that they still possess in Spain.
They offer shelter to the pilgrims doing the Camino de Santiago during only one night. When the shelter is full, then they open the Church, looking a castle, and they accommodate the pilgrims before the altar with mattresses.
