Camino Photo of the Day: the Sepulchre of San Juan de Ortega

You might think that the body of San Juan de Ortega rests in the magnificent Hispano-Flemish Gothic sepulchre located in his church. You would be forgiven for thinking so, but as we discovered yesterday, the saint is laid in a rather plain stone casket elsewhere in the church. No, this mortuary monument is in fact entirely empty. It is said that this was to avoid looting in the days when this region was rife with bandits. Why, when the saint’s body was brought out of hiding and placed on display in 1964, they didn’t re-inter him here is anybody’s guess.

Date: 11 April 2013
Place: San Juan de Ortega (Province of Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain)
Today started: somewhere just before Belorado (Province of Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain)