Camino Photo of the Day: Our Lady of the Cliff

As the Camino leaves the village of Tosantos, across the river you can see a stone structure built into the bluff. This is the Ermita Virgen de la Peña – the hermitage of the Virgin of the Cliff. Legend has it that an 8th century statue of Virgin and Child was hidden under a bell in a cave here during the Moorish invasions. In the thirteenth century, a holy hermit lived in these caves. From her hermitage, she ministered to the passing pilgrims and was revered by the townsfolk. After her death, a chapel was built into the hillside, and each year of the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin (September 8), the inhabitants of Tosantos hold a procession through town and up to the cave.

Date: 11 April 2013
Place: leaving Tosantos (Province of Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain)
Today started: somewhere just before Belorado (Province of Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain)