Today we left Calzadilla de la Cueza and headed to Sahagún.
Possibly the worst breakfast ever meant that we decided to hit the road earlier than normal and stop for a coffee / pastry along the way. Very little to say about Calzadilla de la Cueza as it is such a small hamlet. The name Calzadilla comes from a diminutive of road (from the Latin calciata which means road) in reference to the Roman road that runs through it and, possibly, de la Cueza due to the River Cueza passing through.
It was a crisp (aka very cold) but sunny morning as we set off and much of the early walking was beside fields that were either just plowed or full of wheat as usual – there was even a resumption of distant mountains on the horizon. The path took us through the small villages of Ledigos and Terradillos de los Templarios.
We spent a few minutes admiring the wildlife before heading down the path again and into the village of Moratinos for the belated breakfast coffee but also to celebrate reaching half distance for El Camino and halfway for today. The “houses” in the hill are not hobbit homes but are “bodegas” used in the past for food storage and wine-making – Moratinos is one of several hillside bodega groups visible along the Camino trail, part of a wine culture that dates back 2,000 years to the Romans.
Not a lot to report about on the final walk into Sahagún as the path pretty much ran along the main road the whole way. Eventually we saw Sahagún in the distance – it certainly looked a lot bigger than Calzadilla de la Cueza! Of course we saw more Storks occupying high spots and then arrived at our hotel – Hostal Domus Viatoris.
After some lunch we had a bit of a wander round town and saw the Arco de San Benito, built in 1662, showing the royal coat of arms and two sculptures of Alfonso III and Alfonso VI, two of Sahagún’s main benefactors. We passed by the Iglesia de San Tirso, which is no longer a place of worship, built in the 12th century and is among the most representative of Castilian-Leonese Mudejar architecture. Finally we saw the remains of the Monastery of San Benito and Clock Tower – built in the 12th century in honour of the Holy Martyrs Facundo and Primitivo who were beheaded by the Romans.
We walked up to the Santuario de la Peregrina to collect our “half-way” certificates. The first stone of this was laid in 1260 and in 1358, when building was still ongoing, Pope Innocent VI granted indulgences to all worshippers who made a financial contribution to the building. In 1835, after the war of independence, the convent was abandoned.
Tomorrow we head to El Burgo Ranero