Last week, on New Years Eve, the Twitter world had a #CaminoTuesday theme of “The Old and The New.” I didn’t have time to write up a whole blog post, but I did share this: Here are the photos bigger, in case you’re curious: And that got me thinking about bridges, and how importantContinue reading “Beautiful Bridges of the Camino de Santiago”
Category Archives: Camino History
The Architectural Wonder: the Cathedral of León
The cathedral of Santa María in León has walls that soar almost 100 feet high and are filled with almost 2000 square feet of stained glass, spread over 130 church windows and 3 rose windows. To stand inside and survey what look like walls of glass, supporting a roof of stone, is to understand whyContinue reading “The Architectural Wonder: the Cathedral of León”
The Pilgrim Statue of Astorga (#CaminoTuesday)
Over on Twitter, the hashtag #CaminoTuesday is becoming a thing. Someone (I don’t know who) announces a new theme every week, and people post their photos and stories that fit. Today’s theme is “modern statuary and sculpture,” of which there are plenty of examples along the way. But for some reason, this previously unpublished photo from myContinue reading “The Pilgrim Statue of Astorga (#CaminoTuesday)”
Corpus Christi in Mazarife
Today is the Catholic Feast of Corpus Christi. It’s not a date that draws a lot of attention in the United States, but four years ago I encountered it in full measure in Spain, where it seems no festival or saint or holy remembrance goes unacknowledged, and I’ve been curious about it ever since. We wereContinue reading “Corpus Christi in Mazarife”
The Retablo of Navarette
Retablo: a devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art. More generally retablo is also the Spanish term for a retable or reredos above an altar, whether a large altarpiece painting or an elaborate wooden structure with sculptures. (from Wikipedia) A few days ago IContinue reading “The Retablo of Navarette”
The Bridge of Hospital de Órbigo
The 13th-century stone bridge of Hospital de Órbigo is 200 meters long and boasts twenty arches, which now mostly rest on bare ground now that a dam blocks much of the Orbigo River, but the bridge survives because of the Camino-worthy legend of Don Suero de Quiñones.
Notre Dame Cathedral and the First Camino Stamp
When we bought round-trip tickets to Paris as the launching point of our Camino del Norte trip, the rolling SNCF strike had not yet been announced. (Or if it had, I didn’t know about it.) I assumed that once we landed it would be an easy train ride from Paris to Irún, just as threeContinue reading “Notre Dame Cathedral and the First Camino Stamp”
The Abbey
The photos last week caught my attention. The chapel, covered in snow. The lone pilgrim, covered in a poncho but soldiering on. I knew this place, and the people who guarded pilgrims along this stretch of road. Although when I’d passed by, the sky was grey and full of rain, not snow. From Walking toContinue reading “The Abbey”
The Surprising Story Behind the Sculpture on Alto del Perdón
Twelve kilometers after Pamplona, past the fields of grasses splashed with red poppies (or the fields of dry dirt, depending on the time of year), the crumbling monasteries, and the towering hay bales, and up a steep set of switchbacks, the Camino Frances arrives at Alto de Perdón, the Mount of Forgiveness. I’ve stoodContinue reading “The Surprising Story Behind the Sculpture on Alto del Perdón”
Saint James Matamoros: the Fake News of the Last Millennium
It’s impossible to walk the Way of Saint James, the Camino de Santiago, without encountering images of Saint James. Which makes sense – we are on a journey to his recognized grave, after all. Without James the Greater, brother of John and the first of Jesus’ disciples to be martyred, there would never have beenContinue reading “Saint James Matamoros: the Fake News of the Last Millennium”
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