Category: Liminal Space

Boadilla del Camino isn’t the prettiest town – indeed, my notes for 2016 indicate that we walked right through it – but in 2013, Eamon and I were determined to grab a quick second breakfast here. So we wandered about a bit before stumbling on this place. Inside, we ran into Mia from Ireland, who we had last seen in […]

The Camino weirdly sidesteps the village of Itero del Castillo, as the bridge across the Río Pisuerga (the eponymous Puente de Itero del Castillo) lies perhaps a kilometer to the south. Although it’s a highway bridge, with a roadbed of 20th century asphalt, the bridge itself is much older. The original 11th/12th century bridge was rebuilt in the 16th century, […]

This small Gothic window may be found in the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Manzano. The church dates to the early 13th century, with extensive renovations up through the 18th century. I rather suspect that this window is from the older construction. There has been a church on this site since at least the 10th century, and for centuries this was an […]

One last photo of San Antón. This is one of my favourite Camino photos. In fact, it’s the header for my other blog. Even as I took the photo, I remember thinking of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, descending upon Christ at His baptism. Or of the dove that perched on Saint Gregory the Great when […]

This photo gives you an idea of the scale of San Antón. That’s Eamon walking under the still-standing arch across the road. What must this place have looked like in its heyday? Once that archway supported a bridge between the monastery church and the pilgrim’s hostel. The ruins still provide a service for pilgrims, however. I remember being thankful for […]

If I was impressed with the ruin of San Miguel, I was utterly unprepared for that of San Antón. It was enormous, a magnificent remnant, and it arched over the Camino road. Once this arch connected a monastery on one side of the road with a pilgrim’s hostel on the other side. While both the monastery and the old hostel […]

After saying goodbye to Viola, at about 11:30 am Eamon and I set off to leave Burgos and to head out into the Meseta. It’s funny how our great Camino family, numbering sometimes over a dozen, was now down to just us two. Some folks, like Viola, took rest days and fell behind. Some sped ahead. And some went home. […]

Although I have taken literally hundreds of photos of the interior of the Cathedral in Burgos, I’ve limited myself to just five photos for this project. No series of photos of this cathedral would be complete without at least one ceiling shot. This is one of the many side chapels. While they’re not all this intricate, many of them are. […]

Welcome to Burgos cathedral! The photo is a little blurry, but perhaps it conveys the overwhelming magnificence and grandeur that flood upon you when you enter. It’s too much to take in all at once, and this is just the barest view from the narthex into the great aisle surrounding the nave, from which radiates something like twelve chapels, with […]

We return at last to the cathedral! This tympanum over the South Portal of the Cathedral is a masterpiece of 13th century stonework. The central portion shown in the photograph depicts Christ Pantocrator, surrounded by the four evangelists busy writing at their desks, as well as by their traditional symbols. Above, arches of angels and saints surround the central image. […]