Walking the Camino de Santiago
Like many grand churches, León Cathedral has three front doors. This is the center one, featuring a smiling statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the Christ child. The carving above the door features Christ on His heavenly throne at the Judgment, flanked by angels and saints. Just below, you can see some of the judged enter paradise, while others […]
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Liminal spaces. Passages from one place and time to another. They fascinate me. What lies behind this door? What transformation occurs as I pass through this gate? Who lives beyond? I took a lot of door and gate photos on both Caminos – enough for a book, really – and there is no reason to suppose I will ever stop. […]
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The tiny hamlet of Moratinos (population 22; 78 on weekends) is home to the 18th century Iglesia de Santo Tomás Apóstol. During our walk on the Camino, we’d seen some interesting church entrances, but never before or since a gate like this. Date: 18 April 2016 Place: Moratinos (Castilla y León, Spain) Today’s map:
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This is what was once the main entrance to the Monasterio de San Zoilo. I believe it leads into the monastic church, and that it is not used by the hotel. It’s always strange to me to see a great and grand entrance being forsaken in favour of a side door, but it seems to be a not uncommon thing. […]
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It’s no secret that I like photographing liminal spaces. I was struck by these three doors in the town of Tardajos, at least partially because of the contrast of three different styles of architecture. First, we have Romanesque, then a primitive Gothic, and finally what I will cheekily call Modern. I think of these three, I most prefer the Romanesque. […]
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After taking the last photo, I turned around to get a view of the long, tree-lined lane we just walked through. The path curves off to the left slightly, where it continues for perhaps 700 meters. We never exchanged names with the two pilgrims here, but if you happen to know them, leave a comment! I have been reliably informed […]
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After walking through a long, tree-lined lane in an urban park, we discovered that we had been walking through the grounds of an old seminary. I am unclear if it is still in operation. This gate is at the end of the park and seems to be the formal entrance into the seminary grounds. We’re essentially walking out through the […]
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To help give you a sense of scale, here Francine stops for a moment before we enter Burgos Cathedral through the Puerta Sacramental, or Sacramental Door. This is by no means the main entrance to the Cathedral, but more of a side entrance leading into the south transept. This particular entrance is one of the older surviving parts of the […]
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Through this gate, we enter the city centre of Burgos, once the capital of the Kingdom of Castilla. Obviously, the gate has had some renovations since medieval times – those statues look 15th century or so. At the very top, we of course have Madonna and Child, and then below that an angel holding a model of the city. The […]
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This is the entrance to the main church in Belorado. I love the tufts of greenery growing out of the portico. The church has been rebuilt or restored quite a few times, most recently in 1910, though the present plan of the building dates from the 16th Century. The interior has four side altars, including the Immaculate Conception and Our […]
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