Walking the Camino de Santiago
After visiting the saint (and the chickens), and before we head out to find lunch, we pause a moment in the square and look back at the cathedral itself. In the square, we are accosted by an expatriate Englishman named Roderick. “Accosted” is perhaps too strong a word. Detained? Engaged in conversation? In any case, he had clearly been living […]
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Pilgrims and parishioners mix in the Cathedral square in Santo Domingo de la Calzada. We are but passing through, but for many of these young Catholics, they are passing through the sacrament of Confirmation and joining the Church Militant – that portion of the communion of saints still walking upon the earth. And no doubt some of them will take […]
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The Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada is famous for having the only Vatican-approved chicken run in the world. Permission was granted by Rome in the twelfth century to house the descendants of the original legendary pair here. On October 6, 1350, Pope Clement VI granted an indulgence for the faithful who pray the Divine Office in the Cathedral […]
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The interior of the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada was every bit as crowded as the square outside. This photo was taken from the Saint’s tomb across the nave of the church to a particularly spectacular side altar. Date: 09 April 2016 Place: Santo Domingo de la Calzada (La Rioja, Spain)
» Read moreSeries 1: 2016 Once I’d gotten all of my Camino photos up on my Flickr page, I began to search for ways to internalize and come to grips with our 2016 Camino. Beginning on 06 July 2016, I began posting a photo a day with brief explanations and occasional maps. I tried not to post the boring ones (though your […]
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The Cathedral square of the town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada was crowded with Confirmands and their families and godparents. We knew we wouldn’t have much time, but we ducked into the Cathedral itself to visit the saint. His story resonates pretty strongly with me. I won’t bore you with the details (that’s what Wikipedia is for), but here’s […]
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Imagine our surprise when we entered the Cathedral square in Santo Domino de la Calzada and were greeted with this! As it turns out, Confirmations were being celebrated that day, and we would only have a short time in the Cathedral before the beginning of the rite. Well, any Sacrament trumps a sacramental, even a pilgrimage, so we were happy […]
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From a nearby sign, we read “Since 1968, this house has been used as a hostel for pilgrims and as the headquarters of the oldest religious brotherhood to assist pilgrims on the route to Santiago which was founded by Santo Domingo de la Calzada in the 11th century. … In the courtyard the chickens are kept which are used to […]
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You might well be wondering why the arms of the town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada have chickens on them. Lions and bears and eagles are more usual for this sort of thing – and indeed the lion of León and the castle of Castile also feature. But why chickens? Well, therein lies a tale. The legend is quite […]
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I cannot remember taking this photo, and I certainly don’t know if this is part of some monument or just a plinth on a highway bridge. But for me, this image displays one of the deep strands of the Camino. There is a dignity and a quiet majesty surrounding structures in decay. They speak of the past with weary visages […]
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