Walking the Camino de Santiago
We enter a rather typical Leonese village (population 113) with our new friend, Stijn from Holland. A pleasant walk, with much less mud than yesterday. Date: 21 April 2016 Place: Murias de Rechivaldo (Castilla y León, Spain) Today’s map:
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This little chapel is named for Pontius Pilate’s presentation of the scourged and humiliated Jesus to the gathering crowd: “ecce homo! – behold, the man!” It is a lovely rest spot with fresh water available to pilgrims. I’m including both exterior and interior photos in this post – bonus! Date: 21 April 2016 Place: Between Valdeviejas and Murias de Rechivaldo […]
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After we pass out of urban Astorga, the Camino runs overland through some suburban-style villages. A number of the houses here have these colourful carts out front. I presume they are a cultural tradition of some sort, and I’m curious to know what they signify. And yes, I know that this is a cart rather than a wagon, but I […]
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The Camino route out through Astorga is not nearly so pretty and picturesque as the route into town. However, there is one weirdly Nordic-looking church, as well as cafés and shops – few of which were open at the early hour we began our walk. And then there is this reflection, this sign of the times. Date: 21 April 2016 […]
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Stepping outside our albergue in the morning, we were treated to a final view of the lovely Catedral de Santa María de Astorga. You can clearly see from this angle how small the plaza in front is, and why it’s so difficult to get a decent photo of it. We grabbed a quick breakfast in the same local place we […]
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I don’t want to say that the albergue we stayed at in Astorga was old, but here you can see the telephone in the lobby. Next to it? I’m pretty sure that’s the light switch. And the wall itself? The word “rustic” doesn’t begin to cover it. But it was comfortable and right down the block from the Cathedral and […]
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Coming on the heels of yesterday’s Jesus, this image of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus will round out our photos of medieval statues from the Cathedral Museum in Astorga. Despite its compact size, this museum has much to recommend it, including manuscripts, vestments, and painted panels. It is well worth a visit. I’ve only shown a fraction […]
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This statue – a sort of Pantocrator – forms the center portion of a small medieval reredos, presumably for a side altar at the cathedral or one of the town or village churches in the area. For context, I’ve provided the full reredos in a bonus photo, below. There’s something I find charming about this rather naive painted sculpture, but […]
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The Cathedral Museum of Astorga has a beautiful collection of vestments, such as this red set consisting of a chasuble and two matching dalmatics. I have many more photos on my Flickr page (where I also have some closeups of details and needlework), but this is a representative sample. Some of these are simply gorgeous. Date: 20 April 2016 Place: […]
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This panel in the Cathedral museum in Astorga depicts a legendary event from the translation of the remains of Saint James to their current location in Santiago de Compostella. It involves a hostile local Celtic ruler whose name comes down to us as Queen Lupa, as well as recalcitrant oxen and a fire-breathing dragon. The Golden Legend, Volume II, trans. […]
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