Walking the Camino de Santiago
The interior of the Iglesia de Santa María de Eunate is lit by sunlight shining through alabaster windows. Apologies for the poor quality of the photo. Someday I pledge to get a better one! The inside might not look like much, but here’s what I wrote in my journal that day: The rough pews faced a plain altar, and a […]
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Here I am standing in the octagon of pillars and arches surrounding the isolated Iglesia de Santa María de Eunate. No one knows why they were built here. The church itself dates to the mid-12th century, though the first documented evidence of its existence comes almost 300 years later. Based on the unusual octagonal plan, it was most probably built […]
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The church of Santa María de Eunate is a wonder, no mistake. Leaving aside a moment its octagonal floorplan, one is struck by the surrounding colonnade of pillars and arches. These have no roof and seemingly no purpose at all. Those who have studied this church say they were almost certainly repurposed from an earlier cloister. Unfortunately for the theory, […]
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The church of Santa María de Eunate is basically in the middle of farmland. Other than the church itself, there’s only one other building on the site. I understand that this building, now a retreat center, was once an albergue. It’s too bad that it wasn’t still, because we certainly would have stayed here. This first glance immediately reveals something […]
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You can see these kinds of door plates and knockers all over Navarra, a testament to the Catholic faith that runs deep through this land. Many, like this one, are old and worn as the countryside these villages inhabit. They speak to tradition and permanence. Others, however, still have their crisp edges and shine – a reminder that the faith […]
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Arriving in the village of Muruzábal, we are confronted with a plethora of signs, including one pointing to the Ermita de Eunate. Several people had recommended to us to take this detour. It’s 2km out of the way, though the road back meets up with the Camino at the village of Obanos further along the Way. It’s 4:30 now, and […]
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Probably an appropriate subject, as we’ve been five days since the last photo! The Camino, like every other part of life, can throw you a curveball. Sometimes, you look up from walking to discover an unexpected challenge in your path. Best this is to just get on with walking. There had been a blizzard a few weeks back, and the […]
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After Uterga, the Camino heads back out into the rolling agricultural hills of Navarra. It was about four in the afternoon, with intermittent rain and wind gusts. We were beat from our climb of the Alto del Perdón earlier, which I recorded in my journal as “probably the most physically demanding thing I’ve ever done”. And yet, we were now […]
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At 3:30 in the afternoon, we finally stopped for some sustenance. Here you see a good cross-section of our ever-expanding Camino family: Eamon, Charlie, Cliff, Kristof behind him, Ali, and Petra. According to the sign outside, we’re 697km from Santiago. It’s cold and rainy, and I’m drinking café con leche. Date: 04 April 2013 Place: Uterga (Navarra, Spain) Map!
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We saw several homes for sale in Uterga. They tended to be run down and probably simply abandoned due to the flight to the cities that happened over the last generation. Here, however, is a lovely little home on the Calle Major that exudes all of the homey charm of Navarran village life. I mean, I’d live there! Date: 04 […]
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