Walking the Camino de Santiago
After checking into our albergue and showering, Francine and I made our way back to town where we visited a pair of churches and had platefuls of pinchos for dinner. Both churches were dominated by enormous altar retablos, guilded and painted. This is not a photo of one those. Instead, this is a lovely, somewhat primitive statue of Santiago himself, […]
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In our search for a decent albergue with available beds, we crossed the long Romanesque bridge out of town for a large, modern facility on the opposite bank. Here Francine poses in the wind on the bridge, and behind her you can see the town. You can also see the looming storm. Date: 03 April 2016 Place: Puente La Reina […]
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Puente La Reina’s Calle Mayor ends in this little archway, which in medieval times formed part of the town’s defenses. Through this gate is the actual Puente La Reina itself – the Bridge of the Queen. There is some confusion about which queen the bridge is actually named for. The most common story is that it is named for Queen […]
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This is a look down Calle Mayor – essentially Main Street – in Puente La Reina. Here our plucky pilgrim band is trying to find an albergue. There are several in town, but they were largely not recommended or else full. The narrow little street is mostly lined with ecclesial buildings, then shops, then bars and cafés. At the very […]
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Our day’s destination was the town of Puente La Reina, a name which means “Bridge of the Queen”. More on that in later days. The town is jam-packed with churches and other ecclesial buildings. The building on the left in this photo is a seminary, and the building on the right is a church – one of at least three […]
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Here we are all adjusting our packs after saying our goodbyes to San Guillermo and leaving the church of San Juan Bautista de Obanos. This lovely archway, with the coat of arms of the monastery of Roncesvalles, leads out of the little plaza in front of the church. From here the Camino wends it way out of town and towards […]
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In this long shot of the church interior, you can get some idea of how it all comes together, as well as a sense of scale. It’s an odd church, but beautiful in a contemporary way that does no injury to traditional church design. Francine is provided for scale. If you’d like to see more photos of this church, check […]
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The art found throughout the parish church of San Juan Bautista de Obanos is unlike most of what you find in Spain, which tends to be a thick layer of Baroque poured over a base coat of Gothic or Romanesque. This church was built and furnished in the early and mid 1910s, and much of it is informed by Art […]
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Yesterday, I told the story of the “Mystery of Obanos” – the tale of the martyrdoms of Saint Felicia and her brother Saint Guillermo. Meet Saint Guillermo. The sacristan allowed us to hold and examine the reliquary. This was a surreal and moving experience. I have never before touched the bones of a martyr. For clarification, here’s the back of […]
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Here you can see the high altar, a stark and colourful contrast to the white kitchen tile that covers the interior of the church. Now might be a good time to mention the “Mystery of Obanos”. This story is told in the form of a mystery play performed by the whole town every other year. This is the (very) brief […]
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