Walking the Camino de Santiago
The villages here are a mix of old and new (or restored) construction. This building may have once been a barn, though it is now being used as a residence. Is this door still in use? The debris around the base would suggest not. The building itself, however, is clearly occupied and well kept. Date: 03 April 2013Place: Ilárraz (Navarra, […]
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From field and forest, the Camino emerges onto an asphalt and concrete path running a few meters off of the busy N-135 highway. Eventually, we arrive at the next village, variously called Viscarret, Biskarreta, or Viscarret-Guerendiain, depending on whether your native language is Spanish, Basque, or Bureaucracy. Once in the village, the Camino runs down what was probably once the […]
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In the course of this series, as, indeed, throughout the last series, there are going to be a lot of photos of doors. Doors and windows and thresholds fascinate me, for they are powerful symbols and signs of moving from one place or state to another. The Camino itself is an almost sacramental sign of this. This door leads to […]
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Just opposite the Holy Door we come at last to the steps leading down into the crypt where Saint James the Apostle – Santiago – is entombed. The stone steps are worn smooth and concave from the footsteps of generations of pilgrims. Day and night they file down in a seemingly unending line. The crypt itself lies under the high […]
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Compostela in hand, we head at last to the Cathedral. Here, we enter through the Holy Door. This particular door is open only in Jacobean Holy Years – those years where the Feast of Santiago falls on a Sunday. In 2016, however, Pope Francis had declared a special Jubilee Holy Year of Mercy. Holy Doors were opened in Cathedrals and […]
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This little church stands in the same square as a popular café/bar in the village of San Paio. Luckily for us, the church was actually open as we stopped by. We had no such luck on either our 2013 or 2018 Caminos. I’ll post some interior photos over the next few days. The bar, of course, was open for business […]
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Today, we’re doing something a little different. Every Camino, we’ve posed at this marker. I’m not actually sure what it’s meant to signify, since we are still many kilometers from the city limits. Furthermore, I strongly suspect that due to highway construction, the marker was moved sometime between 2016 and 2018. If not, they certainly chopped down that little tree. […]
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Nope. Can’t explain it. But I certainly enjoyed seeing this Dali-esque gate. Now that’s a mustache! Date: 02 May 2016 Place: somewhere between Arca and O Pedrouzo (Galicia, Spain) The final walking day, the final map:
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This cross, or variations of it, may be seen all over the Camino. Indeed, all over Spain. This particular example is on a gate leading to the driveway of a private residence, and it’s one of my favourite examples. Apologies for no photo yesterday – I’m clearly still in recovery from my accident. Date: 01 May 2016 Place: near Santa […]
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There’s just something about a door. This one may be found in the rural outskirts of the town of Boente. It’s about two in the afternoon. Date: 30 April 2016 Place: Boente (Galicia, Spain) Maps of the Day:
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