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

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.