Today we left Hornillos del Camino / Isar and headed to Castrojeriz

We walked to Hornillos yesterday and then got picked up and taken to our hotel in Isar so this morning we were picked up at our hotel and taken back into Hornillos to start our days walk.

Isar is a small community very much based on agriculture, and named from the word Yessar meaning abundant land in gypsum ore. The doors / windows in the second picture look like hobbit houses and were possibly (my view only) for the gypsum miners.

The first time that Hornillos appears in documentary writings is in the 9th century, because a defensive line formed of primitive Castilian fortress towers passed through it. At that time it was known as Forniellos, which means small ovens, in which tiles were fired. As we walked through, the landscape became much greener and we started to see a reoccurrence of the poppies that were so prevalent earlier in the walk.

Nearing the halfway point today, we looked down on, and then came to the pilgrim village of Hontanas. As we had left Isar so early, and were in danger of getting to Castrojeriz before noon, we broke our usual habit and stopped for a drink and a cake/pastry. We had a look round the Church of La Inmaculada Concepción,  which was originally built in the Gothic style, in the  14th century , although it was neoclassically reformed over time. The large baroque altarpiece is the work of the mountaineer Fernando de la Peña.

As we walked further, past the ruins of an old windmill, there seemed to be more and more poppy fields, really quite stunning in their beauty (of course the camera doesn’t do them justice). We then came to the ruins of the Monastery of San Antón. This was governed by the Antonians, a congregation of monks whose purpose was to care for patients with the disease called “San Antón’s Fire” and for those who came along the Camino de Santiago. The Monastery (or Convent) was the headquarters of the Order of St. Anthony in the different kingdoms of the Crown of Castile and Portugal.

Then Castrojeriz came into view, under the watchful gaze of the Castillo de Castrojeriz. Dated from approximately the 8th century, and reputedly founded by Julius Caesar, it was a significant defensive asset against troops from Northern Europe, Africa and the Hispanic territories. When the husband of the Queen of Aragon, Dõna Lenor, died in 1336 she went to the territory of Castilla y León with her children, for fear that her nephew Pedro IV would kill her. A few years later she was captured and imprisoned in the castle of Castrojeriz and was beheaded in the year 1358.

We stopped and had a look round the Church of Our Lady of Manzano – totally stunning altar pieces. The current building began to be built in the year 1214, as ordered by Queen Berenguela of Castile, daughter of Alfonso VIII if Castilla and mother of Ferdinand III the Saint.

We then arrived at our hotel La Posada de Castrojeriz – still early as this was a relatively short day – but the weather was nice enough for some lunch and a stroll around town.

Tomorrow we head to Fomista.

Today we left the city delights of Burgos and headed to Isar (via Hornillos del Camino)

Burgos was founded in 884 by the second Count of Castile, Diego Rodríguez Porcelos and soon became the leading city of the embryonic County of Castille.  The 11th century chieftain Rodrigo Diáz de Vivar (El CID) had connections with the city: born near Burgos, he was raised and educated there and is buried in Burgos Cathedral. After a long-lasting decline starting in the 17th century, Burgos became the headquarters of the Francoist quasi-state (1936-1939) following the start of the  Spanish Civil War.

We walked out of town past the Burgos University complex – a mix of very old and modern buildings – a very impressive campus. The “fluff” on the ground in the first photo is known as poplar fluff, the billowy pale drifts are seeds from female poplar trees. We first noticed this in Logroño where it was like walking in a snow storm at times.

It was a not particularly scenic walk at this time as we walked out of Burgos and into the countryside. We could see the Centro Penitenciario de Burgos (State Prison) on the right – built in 1932 it has 209 cells. On the left hand side we could hear lots of gunfire, google maps revealed that this was from a shooting range – Campo de Tiro de Burgos (some interesting reviews of the current instructor!). The last picture is a Hermitage or chapel that belonged to the old Juan Mathé pilgrims hospital that was attached to it.

Back to the more usual fields of crops, we crossed the Rio Arianzón, passed a few fields full of poppies and walked through the small village of Tardajos.

We walked through Rabé de Las Calzadas and stopped at the Ermita de la Virgen de Monasterio for a visit. This is a delightful little chapel with an attendant nun who was happy to welcome us, give us a blessing (presumably as didn’t understand a word), stamp our pilgrim’s passport and give us a medallion.

Up to the top of a hill surrounded by fields of crops and then at the top we could see Hornillos del Camino below us in the near distance. We could also see the heavy rain clouds coming our way so it was a bit of a race to see could we get to the cafe (for our taxi pickup) before the rain hit. Re the title of today’s post we passed a significant number of solo walkers, all with heads down looking at their feet instead of the surroundings – they reminded us of zombies! The last picture is of the church in Hornillos, in the rain, from the door of the cafe. We are starting tonight in Isar and will get a taxi back to Hornillos in the morning.

Tomorrow we head to Castrojeriz.

Todays blog entry will be mainly pictorial.

We had a bit of a wander around the old town this morning – these pictures are from Iglesia De San Cosme Y San Damián, which is on the walk from our hotel into the old town.

Just a few of the fabulous buildings and statues in old Burgos. Then it was lunch time (and ice cream of course) before we headed into Burgos Cathedral itself.

An incredible place, I could have taken many more photos. The 20th photo is the grave of the famous El Cid. Rather than try and explain every photo, there is an app “Visit – Burgos Cathedral” which can explain all rooms and artifacts – we used it for the the audio explanation also.

Tomorrow we resume our walk and head to Hornillos.

Today we left Villafranca Montes de Oca / San Juan de Ortega and headed to Burgos

Our taxi picked us up after breakfast from our Hotel San Antón Abad and dropped us back to San Juan de Ortega where we would resume our walk. The hotel is in Villafranca Montes de Oca which was founded as Auca by the Romans, a little further south of its current position, and was semi-destroyed by the Muslim invasion in the  8th century . As reconstruction progressed, by the Middle Ages the town center had moved to the north, in the heart of the Oca valley.

In San Juan de Ortega, on June 2nd, is the festival celebrating its namesake, bringing together 26 towns in the region, who come with their town banners. Cultural associations associated with the Camino de Santiago and the College of Surveyors, whose patron saint is San Juan de Ortega, also participate.

The first picture is the start of the sunrise from my bedroom window. The sun was still rising as we resumed our walk, which took us into a wooded area with a fairly wide path, before we emerged back into wide open green pastures.

We passed through the villages of Arlanzón and Atapuerca, passing many familiar faces who had gone on further last night and were now getting ready to start off.

We then encountered our only climb of the day, up Matagrande (1082m). As we were already at a reasonable altitude, this climb was a short sharp 121m of climb. This gave some lovely views back over Atapuerca and, passing the peak of the climb, we saw Burgos for the first time (so near and yet so far). Matagrande and local archaeological sites are located on military land, the Matagrande Shooting Range and Manoeuvres, which has contributed to the good conservation of both forestry and fauna of the land.

It was now downhill all the way to Burgos. We passed through a few villages before we then took the advice of our taxi driver. Apparently the normal pilgrim route into Burgos is a long walk on concrete paths through industrial areas. At Orbaneja Riopico we made a sharp move to the left and headed for a village called Castaneńes whereby we would then take a much greener path into Burgos.

We crossed the Rio Arlanzón, where a couple of fishermen were trying their luck, and then spent the next few kilometres walking though the Parque de Fuentes Blancas alongside the river. As it was midday Sunday, the park was filled with families, couples, runners and cyclists out enjoying the weekend weather.

No Sunday afternoon in the sun would be complete without an ice cream, so after lunch in Burgos old town, we enjoyed an ice cream in the Plaza Mayor.

Tomorrow is a rest day.

Today we left Belorado hand headed towards San Juan de Ortega

Today promised to be a much better day, with limited walking alongside roads. There would be a mountain to navigate mid-walk that looked like quite a slog uphill. The streets of Belorado old town are narrow with typical passageways that hint to the large population that once lived within its walls. In the 10th century, it was notable as the Cid’s stronghold and later in the same century the first independent Castilian count, in gratitude for Belorado freeing him from the irons with which the King of Navarre held him prisoner (as the poem by Fernán González says), granted the town the privilege of holding a market on Mondays, a custom that still enlivens Plaza Mayor to this day.

On the way out of Belorado, we crossed the Puente Romano “El Canto” which it is believed was rebuilt by Santo Domingo, helped by San Juan de Ortega in the time of Alfonso VI. Across the valley we could also see the Ermita De La Virgen De La Peña, a cave (hermitage) built into the hill, that was the local parish church until the village church was built. There is a festival, every September, dedicated to the Virgin.

As we walked, the road was gently climbing, but not in a serious way, and we passed through a couple of small villages – Villambistia, Espinosa del Camino – before getting to Villafranca Montes de Oca, where we would be spending the night. However our day was not done as we had only walked halfway – due to the Camino’s popularity this year everywhere is fully booked – so we would get to our destination and then take a taxi back to the hotel. Then the fun began as we had about 3km of constant climb up to the top of Valbuena (1168m). At the top, we passed the monument placed to commemorate the c300 people who were shot by those who supported the coup d’etat of General Francisco Franco against the Second Republic, which gave rise to the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939. They were assassinated in the first months of the Civil War for their political ideals and for defending freedom. 

We then had a pleasant few kilometers walking downhill through the forest, on a wide (dusty) track before emerging into more wheat fields and the (very) small town of San Juan de Ortega. This is where the bar was that we would wait for our taxi back to our Hotel Restaurante San Antón Abad.

While we waited for our taxi, we took a look in the Monasterio de San Juan de Ortega. During his life he devoted himself to the task of helping pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago with the construction of roads and bridges, but his great work was set in the Montes de Oca (where the town of San Juan de Ortega is). He built a chapel and a small monastery and a hostel for the pilgrims who passed through there. 

Tomorrow we head to Burgos and our first rest day.

Today we left Santa Domingo de la Cazada and headed towards Belorado.

The itinerary did warn us today that we would spend most of the day walking along the busy N-120 and A-12 roads and that was exactly what we did! Santa Domingo de la Cazada is named after its founder, Dominic de la Cazada, who built a bridge, hospital, and hotel here for pilgrims on the Camino Frances. He also began construction of the town’s Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Cazada that is dedicated to him and where he is buried.

We crossed the (almost dried up) River Oja through the Puente del Santo (Saint’s Bridge) that Saint Dominic built centuries ago. This bridge has 16 arches and is 148 meters long.

We passed through some fairly flat countryside, until we came alongside Cerro Grañón (805m). Given its height over the surrounding landscape gave it a strategic importance, a fortress was built on it in the 9th century to contain the Muslim invasion. The castle of Grañón, as it is also on the border between the kingdoms of Castile and Navarra, played a role in territorial disputes until a treaty in 1176 put an end to them.

We passed through the village of Grañón which is the last village in La Rioja on the Camino Frances. The village grew around the Monastery of San Juan which is now the parish church.

We then crossed the border between La Rioja and Castile y Leon, unfortunately the sign was subject to graffiti but it does give a good indication of where we are headed. The path for most of the day was a dusty track as we walked through the villages of Redecilla del Camino, Castildelgado and Viloria de Rioja where, as usual there were churches far larger than the village size would indicate. The walk was also a long uphill incline until we started our downward march into Belorado.

We checked in to our Hotel Jacobeo, had some lunch in the town square and then took a look inside the Iglesia de Santa Maria built in the 16th century.

Tomorrow we head to San Juan de Ortega

Today we left Nájera and headed towards Santo Domingo de la Cazada

It would be fair to say that, after the lovely towns we have stayed in so far, Nájera was a bit of a disappointment. We stayed at the Hotel Duques de Nájera which was perfectly fine – finding a place for dinner was a challenge with limited options and, of those, most seemed to be booked out. Anyway we found somewhere eventually where the food tasted better than the surrounding area looked!

On the way out of town, we passed the monastery of Santa Maria la Real. The first building on the site dates back to the 11th century – the monastery and the attached royal pantheon were founded by King Garcia Sánchez III of Navarre in 1052. It was later elevated to an episcopal see (area of a bishops ecclesiastical jurisdiction) and placed under Papal authority. As for Nájera itself, the Romans built the town of Tritium on land which now falls within the boundaries of Nájera and the neighbouring municipality of Tricio. Subsequently, the area was under Muslim rule and the name Nájera (Naxara, meaning “town between the rocks”) is of Arabic origin.

A short hill up out of the town and we were back into the countryside with vineyards and some distant mountain views. As the morning progressed the vineyards were slowly replaced by the (previously) usual fields of rapeseed, peas and wheat.

On the way to the village of Azofra was an extensive gravity fed irrigation system – the concepts & techniques of which were bought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Arabs & Berbers. After the short walk through the village we passed by the Rollo de Azofra which represents the administrative category of the village as it was fully self governing since 1116. It was also notable as a place of executions. King Carlos V granted this (execution) privilege in the 16th century – inhabitants of Azofra had to be tried in Azofra.

We then started up a long hill (Strava tells me it was 3.3km long with a climb of 148m – a 4.5% gradient). It certainly got the heart and legs pumping! At the top of this hill was a town called Ciriñuela which was remarkable for its unremarkableness!. We could see Santo Domingo de la Cazarda in the distance for most of the walk down the hill – at this stage there were no more vineyards to be seen.

Tomorrow we head to Belorado.

Today we left Logroño and headed to Nájera.

As we left our Hotel Bracos a little earlier than usual (it was forecast to get hotter than yesterday in the afternoon) there was little to see other than the usual sights in a busy town.

Logroño has its origins in the Roman town of Vareia which was founded sometime around the 1st century BC. It is currently the capital of the Rioja autonomous community. Juan II of Castile granted it the title of “City” in 1431. He also added the titles of Very Noble and Very Loyal to the city, which still appear on the town’s coat of arms. This was because of the loyalty of the local people against King Juan II of Aragon as despite “war, injuries and deaths, and robberies, and burnings, and damages and oppressions”, the city remained in the service of the King of Castile.

As mentioned, not a lot to see on our initial walk out of the city, but we did spot a few ducklings in a man made pond and an interesting take on an El Camino direction sign, before getting back to see the all familiar green and hilly views.

We spent some time walking along the edge of La Grajera Reservoir, which was built in 1883, on what was possibly a small  endorheic lagoon (or drainage basin!), to store water from the Iregua River with which to irrigate the orchards that were to the south of the city. There were a lot of fishermen but the canny Carp were hiding in a small shallow area well away from them – there was also a goose on its nest.

We were now on a gradual uphill climb as we headed towards the town of Navarrete – as usual it was the church commanding a view from the top of the town that we could see first. The land was becoming noticeably more covered in vines as we progressed along. Just before the town were the ruins of the San Juan de Acre, Hospital de peregrinos, founded by Doña Maria Ramirez in the Middle Ages to assist pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela.

We briefly stopped in Navarrete for a cold drink and a photo of the impressive main church before heading back down out of town and on the road to Nájera. We passed the Cementerio Municipal de Navarrete, where the facade was moved from its original location, the old hospital of San Juan de Acre, in 1887 by a mason named Azpiri. The gate on the door was made by a blacksmith named Menaut, all following the instructions of the project drawn up by the prestigious Riojan architect Luis Barrón.

We were pretty much on a straight run now towards Nájera. The road became pretty dusty and was quite straight and climbing for long periods. Either side were vineyards – some old, some new, some completely overgrown, but all showing the rich brown soil of La Rioja region. After a small lung burner of a hill, we topped out with views down to Nájera below, and carried on down through an industrial area (still a dusty path) before arriving at the edge of town. This is not as pretty as previous towns on initial views, but once over the river the old town felt much more familiar.

Tomorrow we head to Santa Domingo de la Calzada

Today we left Los Arcos and headed towards Logroño

The Hostal Suetxe, while very comfortable was interesting – although advertising a restaurant and bar, dinner was in a house around the corner and breakfast in a nearby cafe. Amusing but it all worked very well.

Los Arcos has a long history, but in the 11th century the town known today as Los Arcos was formed. Sancho Garcés IV of Navarra from Peñalén repopulated it after the battle of Valdegón. In this 1067 battle, the War of the Three Sanchos (from Castile, Navarre and Aragon), Navarre and Aragonese were on one side, the Castilians on the other and defeated. The grateful king then gave orders to repopulate the town.

The walk started off pretty cold but soon warmed up as we meandered across paths and roads, viewing alternating fields of vines and wheat and some large mountains in the distance. We could see the town of Sansol in the distance for some time on its hill in the middle of flats fields.

Of course, to get through Sansol there was a climb up through the town and then down the other side, where we headed further down to Torres Del Rio – which had a lung busting climb up into the town – where there was a quirky little church (and the obligatory pilgrim passport stamp).

Then, unannounced in the route description, as we walked towards Bargota, there was a long steep incline that caused a few palpitations and must have been hellish for a lot of the older walkers. There were still plenty of vines to see as well as a tiled mural on what seemed like a small private chapel and a majestic vulture keeping a watchful eye on us.

Downhill all the way (well mostly!) into Viana where we looked for ice cream but had to settle for a muffin instead. We had a look inside the church of Santa María de la Asunción which was built between 1250 and 1312. The scale and spectacle of all the churches is absolutely stunning and this is no exception. César Borgia died during a treacherous ambush, in Viana, on March 12, 1507. Three men of Luis de Beaumont, Count of Lerín, prepared an ambush and killed him. The Count of Lerín, like a good gentleman, mourned him and allowed the corpse to be buried in the Church of Santa María.

The heat was now approaching late 20’s and we were glad of an early start we we made the final few kilometres into Rioja country and finally into Logroño. There were noticeably less fields of wheat and significantly more vines!

Tomorrow promises to be even hotter.

Today we left Estella and headed to Los Arcos.

Estella (Spanish) or Lizarra (‘ash tree’ in Basque) was founded around the year 1090 by Sancho Garcés I, monarch of Pamplona and Aragón. At an altitude of 421 meters and surrounded by mountains such as Montejurra, Peñaguda, Cruz de los Castillo and Belástegui, the city is so hidden that there is a saying that Estella cannot be seen until actually getting there. These surrounding mountains also soften its climate, sheltering it from the wind. 

Today was a steady uphill walk for the first half and as we climbed up out of Estella, through Ayegui, we passed the Irache winery, the Benedictine Irache Monastery (8th century) and the Museum of Wine (much more modern!).

Onwards and upwards – more fabulous scenery, vines, fields of wheat and so many wild poppies and distant views of mountains. The sun was shining and life was good!

A little more climbing and then we were as high as we were going to get today at Villamayor de Monjardin, where we could see San Esteban de Deyo, also called the Castillo de Monjardín. This is a ruined castle (where only the walls remain) on a hill overlooking the town which lies at an elevation of 890 metres. The castle has a Roman foundation, but was repeatedly rebuilt over the centuries. It was one of the last fortresses of the Bani Qasi, the local Muslim dynasty, before it was taken by King Sancho I of Navarre in 914.

Downhill all the rest of the way, including many flat sections, to Los Arcos. Still more vineyards and wheat fields with new mountains appearing on the horizon. In the distance we could see the Basilica of San Gregorio Ostiense on the Alto de Piñalba. The Basilica is an outstanding Baroque-style construction and is dedicated to Saint Gregory Ostiense, who was bishop of Ostia in Italy and who died in the nearby city of Logroño in 1044. 

A few more kilometres of walking through the farmlands, and passing the multitudes of Camino walkers, we came to the town of Los Arcos. It was a scene we had become familiar with – narrow streets with pretty houses, a town square and a huge church.

Rather than go straight to our hotel, we had a look inside this magnificent church – Iglesia de Santa Maria de Los Arcos. The church originally dates from the 12th century, as a Romanesque church that in 1175 was one of the largest on the Camino de Santiago, and has undergone successive transformations up until the middle of the Baroque period. The organ was built in 1760-61 (as recorded in the parish archive) by Lucas de Tarazona, an organ maker from LerÃn for 5,600 reales.

Tomorrow we head to Logrońo (and Rioja wine country).