Villar de Mazarife to Hospital de Órbigo – Stage 22

Stage 22 – Villar de Mazarife – Hospital de Órbigo
Total Distance – 14.1 km
Adjusted for Climb – 0 km (accrued ascent 0 m = 0 km)
High Point: Villar de Mazarife at 880 m (2,887 feet)

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The beautiful Albergue Antonio de Padua from where I started out from that sunny day.

Before describing this solitary stage for me I need to say something about the village of Villar de Mazarife (Pop. 398). This village is very much like a number of small villages that you encounter on the Camino Francés in that it is quite small and one that exists solely for the Camino. Even the grocery store is called Frutas del Camino de Santiago and the church is dedicated to St. James!

Ever the historian – it’s what I studied in college – I have a deep-seated need to know more about what the village was in the past and also a need to communicate that to others. So – here goes..

The village owes its existence and name to a certain man named Mazaref who in the late 9th century was the head of a mozarabic family from Córdoba that enjoyed certain privileges conferred upon him by the kings of Asturias and León. With royal blessings he began the great enterprise of repopulating the area of the high Páramo with his descendents and succeeded in spreading his family all the way to the banks of río Cea.

Of course there had been pre-Roman settlements in the area but with the Romans and the Roman road the area became strategically important in the maintaining of communications between the important cities of Astúrica Augusta, Bílbilis, Cesaraugusta and Tarraco. This road became the Pilgrim road with the popularization of the pilgrimage to Santiago and continues to be so.

My experience in Villar de Mazarife was limited to my stay in the beautiful Albergue Antonio de Padua. I was sorely in need of a nurturing place to stay and luckily, after having no luck at the overflowing Albergue Tío Pepe, found a private room at the albergue. I was offered an opportunity to partake of a vegetarian paella with all the Peregrinos there but I opted to rest and recuperate with some chorizo and cheese in my room. Theresa who was also staying there enjoyed the excellent paella and the company of all the others at dinner. While at the albergue I met two women from Norway who had visited the small and eclectic museum dedicated to telephones and telegraphs that was nearby. They enjoyed this somewhat unusual museum and also told me about the art gallery of the artist called Monseñor. This gentleman specializes in neo-Romanesque religious works of art.

In the shadow of Monseñor or was he in my shadow?

Breakfast at the albergue was delicious and an opportunity to meet some more of my fellow travellers. Theresa had left much earlier that morning and I did not get a chance to see her before she left and indeed the evening before was the last time I saw her on the Camino. While having breakfast I consulted my guidebook and determined to cut the next stage, that Brierly said was 31 km, in half so that I could spend some quality time in Hospital de Órbigo (Pop. 1,100). Its location on a strategic crossing point on the río Órbigo led the Romans to establish the town. This has made it the site of many battles, the most famous one being the defeat of the Moors here in 878 by Alfonso III (866-910). The town was also once owned by the Knights Templar and the site of a famous pilgrim hospice which gave the town its name. It has one of the longest and best preserved medieval bridges in Spain dating from the 13th century that is built over an existing Roman bridge. The town is also noted for having been a Commandery of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John (no doubt they took over the Templar possessions here).

I said in my introduction that this was to be a solitary stage for me and indeed it was. This was one of those rare moments where I did not walk with anyone from the start of the stage to the finish.

Walking out of town, just me and my shadow!

A local woman in the distance was walking between towns. Judging from her pace she regularly did this.

I did see other Peregrinos!

The 15 km to that I had to travel was very flat and a mixture of roads and trails. As such I was able to arrive in record time and had plenty of opportunity to shower and rest before lunch.

What is this? Grain storage?

I always took pictures of the flowers for my wife to enjoy back home.

At least I knew I was on the right path!

When I arrived I made sure to take many pictures of this beautiful and splendid Medieval bridge. As you can see it was well worth my time to have extended my time on the Camino!

A wonderful view of the bridge!

The town is in the background.

You can clearly see the lower part of the bridge that is the original Roman bridge.

The majesty and beauty of this bridge is undeniable and in addition to this it also has a place in history for one of the most chivalrous acts ever. The name of this act is called El Passo Honroso (The Honorable Pass). It was here in 1434 that the noble Leonese knight Don Suero de Quiñones, after being scorned by a beautiful woman, defended the bridge against any and all knights from all over Europe in a jousting tournament. Only Peregrinos with a letter from their Parish certifying them as such were allowed to pass. The tournament began on July 11, 1434 (two weeks before St. James Day in what was a Jacobean year)) and continued for two weeks during which Don Suero successfully defended the bridge until the required 300 lances were broken and regained his honor. After successfully defending the bridge he and his knights completed their Pilgrimage to Santiago. The irony here is that he later married this same woman!! Also, significantly, his chivalrous act may have been an inspiration for Cervantes in his writing of Don Quixote.

Imagine yourself defending this bridge against all comers.

My wife when I told her this story said, “What a woman!” to which I replied, “What a man!!”

After photographing the bridge and while on my way to lunch I noticed the stork nests in the church belfry. I was to see this same sight in many towns and villages in northern Spain.

My quality time in Hospital de Órbigo consisted of a leisurely lunch, plenty of time for photos, a haircut (oh, what a simple luxury!) and a trip to the pharmacy for toothpaste. It doesn’t sound like much but believe me it was a pleasure to take care of these needs. It was also a pleasure to have stayed at the Albergue San Miguel. I chose it because of its name (Gee, I wonder why!) and it turned out to be the right choice for me. The hostess was from Brazil and she was very friendly and helpful and I also met Marta from Argentina who I would start my walk with the next morning.

The Albergue San Miguel is a peaceful place to rest and is filled with artwork done by the visiting Peregrinos. Some of it is quite good and my friend Marta even contributed her own work to the collection.

I greatly enjoyed my stay in Hospital de Órbigo and was rested and ready to tackle the next stage to Astorga!

León to Villar de Mazarife – Stage 21

Stage 21– León to Villar de Mazarife
Total Distance – 22.2 km + 4.5 km (getting lost) = 26.7 km
Adjusted for Climb – 27.9 km (accrued ascent 250 m = 1.2 km)
High Point: Páramo 901 m (2,956 feet)

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La Calle Ancha which translates to “the wide street”

As I walked along León’s Calle Anche toward La Plaza Regla I reflected on my two days in the city. I had used the inclement weather to my advantage to rest and recuperate. I also had the good fortune to run into the Canadian trio of Rhys (the 10-year-old Peregrino), his father Jamie and his uncle Michael on my first night in town. They were eating dinner in the Bar “La Jouja” on the Plaza Torres de Omaña when I happened to enter it looking for a place to eat. I gladly accepted their offer to join their group of 6 Peregrinos and we had an enjoyable evening eating, drinking and talking about our experiences. They were moving on the next day and I unfortunately would not see them anymore while on the Camino.

Fast forward to my last morning in León, as I was walking on the Calle Ancha I was asked by a group of Canadian women for help in locating their convent/albergue and as I finished giving them directions I heard “Miguel, Miguel!” shouted by Juan, the Mexican Peregrino I had dined with at the monasterio in Sahagún. It was great to be reunited with him and we walked together to the Cathedral where he took my picture before I continued on my way out-of-town. Unfortunately, he was staying another day in town but we enjoyed our brief reunion together.

The picture in La Plaza Regla in front of the cathedral that Juan took of me as I set out that rainy morning.

Cleverly placed arrow pointing the way to Plaza de San Isidoro

Marker showing the way to Plaza de San Isidoro

As I followed those ever-present yellow arrows I was soon at the Plaza de San Isidoro, the cradle of the Kingdom of León. The plaza, which has a Basílica, Pantheon and museum, is named after Isidoro de Sevilla (560 – 636 AD) who was a very important Visigoth scholar-cleric. In addition to building schools and composing missals and breviaries he wrote the Etymologies, the world’s first encyclopedia. The Basílica is built in a Romanesque style of the 11th century and it was constructed from 1056 to 1067 due to the efforts of Fernando I of Castilla and León who was a famous warrior in addition to being a deeply religious monarch. Located here are some of the best in situ Romanesque murals in al of Spain and very possibly all of Europe. The museum contains a large amount of high quality art and the Pantheon de los Reyes is the resting place 23 kings, 12 princes and 9 counts. In the Pantheon you will also see fresco paintings dating from the first third of the 12th century. The themes of the paintings are the childhood, Passion and glorification of Christ with episodes of the childhood and Passion arranged in accordance with the pattern of a Mozarabic mass. The Pantheon because of the great beauty of its frescoes has been called Spain’s Romanesque Sistine Chapel. Did I see any of these wonders? No!! I would have needed at least 2 hours and to my dismay I had to move on.

Plaza de San Isidoro.

Plaque commemorating the 1100th anniversary of the Kingdom of Leon in 2010.

This fountain was built to honor the Roman Legio VII Gemina

Before entering the Basìlica for a quick visit I saw a priest standing amongst a group of three tourists. He was a tall, good-looking man dressed in an old-fashioned long black cassock that buttoned up from the ankles almost all the way up to his neck. A wide-brimmed black hat shaded his face and I thought 20 years ago this young Jesuit would have been a Spaniard but that was not the case now as the handsome Jesuit was clearly an African priest. He was the center of attention in the small group and I very much wanted to ask him for a pilgrim’s blessing but I didn’t dare because I did not want to disturb him or his group so I entered the Basìlica without asking. As I left the Basìlica he and his group were gone and I felt annoyed with myself for not asking for that blessing. Little did I know that I was to have a second chance at a pilgrim’s blessing that day.

Inside the Basìlica.

My next stop would be León’s Plaza de San Marcos. Here was the magnificent monastery of San Marcos which is now a Parador Nacional 5-Star hotel, church and museum. Originally on this site was an ancient pilgrim hospital that was owned by the Order of Santiago. Fernando el Católico in 1514 decided to raze the ancient structure and build the monastary. The architects he chose for the project were: Juan de Orozco (church), Martín de Villarreal (Facade) y Juan de Badajoz el Mozo (cloister and sacristy). Little did they know that it would take over two centuries to complete the project.  In the past this building served as a:

• Headquarters of the Order of the Knights of Santiago
• Prison: Here was jailed the famous Spanish poet Francisco de Quevedo, by order of the Conde-Duque de Olivares for almost 4 years, between 1639 y 1643.
• A Secondary School
• Veterinary School
• Jesuit Mission House.
• Seminary.
• Military Headquarters
• Military Prison
• Government Buildings
• Diócesis.

In 1875 the local government had plans to tear down the building but luckily those plans were shelved. The beauty of the building is self-evident and I’ve seen pictures of it at night that are magnificent. Next trip I will make sure to stay here and enjoy all the beauty that it has to offer.

Plaza San Marcos

The monasterio that is now a Parador Hotel

The church next to the hotel

Just outside the Parador in the Plaza San Marcos is a cross with a weary Peregrino to greet all of the peregrinos walking on to Santiago!

The Cross and Peregrino

Somethings never change! I’ve seen many Peregrinos resting this way. Notice the scallop shell on his hat.

After a brief stop at the Plaza San Marcos I continued over the 16th century Puente río Bernesga and was soon in the suburbs of the town. It was in the suburbs that I encountered a trio of Irish Peregrinos; Theresa (who I had met while walking to Villalcázar de Sirga), James and Shane. We kept on seeing each other on the route so much that we soon ended up walking together.

Iglesia La Virgen del Camino

After walking for close to an hour we stopped at the Iglesia La Virgen del Camino. The Church is ultra modern (1961) and built on the site of the shrine where a shepherd, in the early 16th Century, saw a vision of the Virgin who told him to throw a stone and then build a church on the spot where it landed. The church has become a pilgrimage site in its’ own right on the account of the miracles performed here. Today it was to be the site of a special blessing.

Wonderful Altarpiece in the Iglesia La Virgen del Camino

Each member of our group was sitting or kneeling in the church praying and alone with their thoughts. During this time I noticed that a young Priest was doing some of the work that’s done after the Mass. I immediately went up to him and asked for a blessing for our group.

He took us to the chapel at the back of the church and gave us all a fantastic blessing!!! It was the standard beautiful blessing from 12th Century (in Spanish) that all Pereginos have heard at one time or another, but, he took it to another level by putting his hand on our foreheads and hugging each and every one of us. I truly felt blessed.

Theresa, Shane, the Dominican Priest, James and myself in the chapel where we recieved our special blessing

It turns out the Priest (dressed in a white Dominican habit) spoke a little English because he had lived in Cork, Ireland (where Theresa of our group is from) and he spent time talking to each and every one of us asking about where we were from. We had a very pleasant time chatting but soon had to continue on our way.

My son later emailed me and said that the Priest was, “An Angel in White” and I agree.

Theresa and Shane

Our group was soon out of the suburbs and walking in the open countryside of the páramo (meaning barren plain or moorland) and it was here that two things happened. First we met Isabella a Peregrina from Yorkshire, England. Isabella was in her early twenties and soon joined our group. Unfortunately, it was here right at the intersection of the N-120 and A-66 roads that we ended up taking a massively wrong turn and we were soon off course and in the rain! I still don’t know how we got so far off course but soon we realized that we were going in the wrong direction. Now, with hindsight I know that we actually walked along the A-66 to a path that took us to the Urbanization Jano (a sleepy hamlet of homes). Exactly the opposite way that we needed to go!! Luckily we found a sanitation truck and the driver told us that we had to walk until we saw a road and go to the right. Well his directions eventually got us to almost to the place where we started, the intersection of the N-120 and the A-66! Now I know that we covered about 4.5 km more than we needed too!

It’s says,
Dream what you dare to dream, Know what you want to be, Go where you want to go… Live!

The rest of our journey to Villar de Mazarife was a long walk in the cold rain. I remember at one time becoming separated from James and Shane because Theresa, Isabella and I were wet and cold and we decided to quicken the pace. I don’t think I ever walked as fast in my life as I walked that day with those two!! At one point we did a 6 km clip in an hour!! It must have been our adrenalin kicking in because of our desperation to arrive. Whatever it was we made it to Villar de Mazarife in the evening.

Villar de Mazarife

The Cathedral – Rest Day Two in León

The Jewel in the Crown

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Writing about Cathedrals is difficult for me because there is so much to say! Where do I start? How detailed do I become? What are the significant facts that I need to convey? One could write for days about some of these cathedrals and not do them justice. So, I’m going to something really radical here (for me that is), I’m not going to cite any facts or figures. I’ll let you decide if you need to know more about the history of this cathedral and show you where you can get more information. What I will talk about are the feelings I experience when walking or sitting in a cathedral.

One feeling is awe at the beauty that surrounds me. My thoughts immediately go to thinking of the faith of the artisans that worked on the construction of the building and all of the art, both inside and outside. I imagine that their faith in God must of been immense in order for them to have produced such beauty. How does our faith today compare with theirs? Is it even fair to ask this question because of the vastly different times that we live in?

Some people when they see all of this beauty and opulence are repelled because they think of how these riches could be used to feed the poor. I, on the other hand take a different view. If God is truly omnipotent why not then honor God with some of the most beautiful buildings and artwork ever produced by man? I’m becoming very philosophical here but being in a cathedral makes me so and I think this is a good thing.

In addition my feeling of awe I also derive great comfort from a cathedral. The comfort comes from a feeling of shared faith with our ancestors. This continuity of community over the millennia is special and the cathedral for me epitomizes the continuity of our community of faith. Speaking of faith I cannot help but feel inadequate in my faith when seeing the beauty that the faith of others has given to us. I don’t think I’m alone in this or that this is a necessarily bad feeling to have. Having places that bring up all these feelings, emotions and questions about oneself I believe is a blessing and one that modern society does not value. This makes me feel truly privileged when I’m sitting silently soaking up the beauty and faith all around me.

Web Resources

In English

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le%C3%B3n_Cathedral

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/spain/leon-cathedral

In Spanish

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_Le%C3%B3n

http://www.catedraldeleon.org/

León – Resting Days

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My first view of Gaudi’s famous Casa de Botines (far left with spires) and the Palacio de los Guzmanes (center)

In my advance planning for my pilgrimage León had always figured prominently. The city was one of my triumvirate of cities (Pamplona, Burgos and León) where I would spend days resting and recuperating from my walking. It was a good plan that my health on the road cooperated with and I’d like to think that I picked my cities well. When I got off the bus and arrived at León’s bus station it was an overcast and rainy day. It was no problem finding a taxi and I got to enjoy one of my favorite pastimes that I love to engage in when I arrive at a new place; talking to taxi drivers! It may have been cloudy and overcast outside but our conversation inside the taxi was bright and animated. My erstwhile taxi driver was especially effusive when it came to describing to beauty of the women of León and he said that the most beautiful women in all of Spain were in León. He was definitely a true Patriot!! In my best interests and while considering the views of all my Spanish friends that I met before and after that moment in the taxi, I dared not contradict him nor correct him. In fact, as I was to later discover while walking around town the next two days he might have had a good point. What was not debatable was the beauty of the city. As I was staying at the Hotel Alfonso V, a stone’s throw from the Plaza San Marcelo, where the old quarter of the city begins, I immediately was able to enjoy the beautiful plazas and buildings! Even though the day was one of intermittent rain (you’ll notice that my camera lens were always wet!) the beauty of the city was unimpaired.

Antoni Gaudi’s famous Casa de Botines, one of three buildings he designed that were located outside of Catalonia

The Palacio de los Guzmanes – Home of the Diputación Provincial de León

The Palacio de los Guzmanes – Home of the Diputación Provincial de León

What excited me about the city was that I knew that León had been the Headquarters of the Roman Legio VII “Gemina” and that the name of the city is derived from the word Le/gi/on. Starting from the founding of the city in 70 A.D. the Seventh Legion protected the Galician gold mines from here and also used the city as a base for the conquest of the Suevi tribe of northwest Spain. The Suevi would not be easily conquered and it took the mighty Roman Empire 350 years to attempt this. The empire was not completely successful and the Visigoth King Leonvigildo completed the conquest of the Suevi in 585. You’d figure that having an entire Roman legion based here and the fact that León was the Roman capital of Northwest Spain you would find a whole host of excavated Roman buildings but that is sadly not the case. Except for a portion of a Roman wall and some Roman baths under the Cathedral, no Roman buildings have been found. While the name of the city, street signs and plaques point to the city’s proud Roman past, sadly very little from the Roman period exists. Nonetheless, I could feel a Roman vibe as I walked around the old part of León that actually is the location of the Roman fortified city (fortified, remember the Suevi!).

Plaque honoring 20 centuries of the city. At the top is the original Roman Military Camp (1st Century AD) on this site and at the bottom is the Roman walled city.

Part of the Roman Main Gate to the city

The only existing part of the old Roman wall

You will remember that I had the good fortune to meet a trio of Spanish cyclists from Madrid while sharing a meal with them in the village of Hornillos del Camino. We became friends and they would email me descriptions of places that they enjoyed while cycling furiously ahead of me. Because of them I learned of a lot of good places to eat and one of their tips was that León had a district called El Barrio Hùmedo (the Wet Quarter). Named this way because of all the bars (at least 150!) located within the part of the city that approximates the area that was enclosed by the Roman wall, this area is replete with bars that serve some delicious tapas and restaurants with great food. Of course, any good plan for rest and recuperation should involve some good food. The question is amongst such abundance where does one go? My modus operandi was always to ask the locals so when I was at a sporting goods store (on the Calle Rúa right off the Plaza San Marcelo) buying some needed gloves I asked for some recommendations. Every Spanish person that I met was an expert on where to eat and the gentleman at the store was no exception, after a hurried consultation with a friend of his, he told me of a couple of places where I could go to get authentic local food. Luckily for me the Calle Rúa was the entry way to the Barrio Hùmedo and I was in the right place.

Calle Rúa

Calle Rúa had lots of stores. The Sporting Goods store is just two doors past the store on the right.

León has so many beautiful sites that you really must devote two days to the city to see all the magnificent churches and buildings but alas my time was limited and interrupted because of the rain. I did however get to see León’s Jewel in the Crown which is its magnificent cathedral. The first day I just had to walk up to see the exterior and I was to save the rest of the the cathedral for the next day because I wanted to have enough time to savor its beauty.

Luckily for me the Plaza San Marcelo was the center of the city.

The Calle Ancha which leads you to the cathedral.

The Jewel in the Crown (13th Century)

My next post will be about the cathedral.

In Case You’ve Been Wondering Where I’ve Been

Since I haven’t posted for a while you might be wondering if I’ll write another post anytime soon. Rest assured, I’m back to writing about the rest of the 15 stages that I completed on the Camino.

Part of the reason for my hiatus is something that also happened to me on the Camino. Quite simply at one point when I was walking I knew that I would complete my pilgrimage, the walking was easier, I was more confident with every step that I took and the kilometers on the signs to Santiago de Compostela began to steadily decrease. I knew I was close to my destination and that’s when I wanted to slow down, to savor every moment. Did I slow down? No, but I did look at the people I met, the countryside, the churches and everything around me with a sense of melancholy. My senses slowed down but my feet didn’t. I think that my fellow Pereginos can understand the feeling.

Well, the same thing has happened now with my writing. I want to savor the memories but it’s time now to write and complete the task at hand. So to recap, my last post was about Stage 20 to Leòn. I’ll take up the story of my Pilgrimage from there and I plan on being finished describing all my stages by the end of 2013.

Buen Camino!