Gamarthe sits at the northern boundary of the Pays de Cize in Lower Navarre, about 8 km from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The village is dominated by Gaztelharri ("stone of the castle" in Basque), a limestone pinnacle with the remains of a medieval fortress at its summit. Excavations in 1995 identified this as the probable site of Rocabrun, a Navarrese royal castle documented from 1191 to the end of the 15th century.
On the GR65 you'll pass the Croix de Galzetaburu, a Navarrese cross classified as a Historic Monument since 1972. The 19th-century church contains a retable and wooden galleries from the 17th and 18th centuries -- the interior galleries are a characteristic feature of Basque churches that you'll see increasingly as you approach SJPP.
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