Haro, Spain - Haro Travel Guide - visiting Haro - touring Haro

Haro

Haro

Haro is the de facto capital of the Rioja wine region, home to many of the legendary bodegas (wineries) of La Rioja. It is most famous, however, for its Batalla de Vino, part of the Haro Wine Festival, held on June 29 every year. It begins with a pilgrimage to the shrine of the town's patron saint, San Felices de Bilibio, where combatants unleash their weapon – WINE! what else? – to douse each other in full-bodied red wine, in a mock battle mimicking the frontier battles of yore between the wine-loving Catholics and the wine-abstaining Islamic Moors. The whole event lasts about an hour, followed by a parade in the town's main plaza.

Haro's other principal draws are the Museo del Vino de Rioja which chronicles the history, evolution and creation of Spanish wines, as well as several old palaces and an old town that in 1975 was declared an Historic-Artistic Site. While Haro's other claim to fame, an unlikely one, is that it was the first town in Spain to have electric street lighting.

Haro is a small town situated in the western expanse of La Rioja known as Rioja Alta, between the Rios Ebro and Tirón, at an elevation of approximately 1,300 feet (425 m). It is approximately 22 miles (35.4 km) northwest of Logroño. It has a resident population of around 12,300.

© Indian Chief Travel Guides