The previous day we had
walked 19km in 6 hours and 20 minutes. The next two days would involve longer
walks of 28.6 km and 30.1 km respectively.
I had slept well, but
had woken up in the early hours with the vivid thought as I lay in my bunk that
just as the Camino occasionally intersects with “normal roads and then branches
off them again, so God wants me to journey with him along his paths in my life and not follow the “normal” paths others expect
me to follow. I am to follow the path he has called me to…
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| The Hermitage of San Blas |
We left Los Arcos as
the church bell tower was striking 8am and ascending a slight incline, reached
the chapel of San Blas. It is noteworthy how many little hermitages such as
this, that one passes on the Camino and it is interesting to think of the many
hermits and anchorites that must have lived in such places dispensing their
spiritual “wisdom” to medieval pilgrims in times past, making a pilgrimage to
Santiago quite a much more religious journey than the more secular one people
experience today. The chapels are mostly locked and silent now and devoid of
life, but bear testimony to a very different sort of pilgrim past.
David stopped to
re-arrange the water bladder in his rucksack and I walked on to have a little
time alone. We had already agreed previously, that at times we would walk
separately so that we could spend time praying, worshipping or just reflecting.
David was also using his time alone to memorise Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
The landscape opened up into wide fields and vineyards speckled with more
wildflowers and almond blossom and although the wind was bracingly cold, I took
the opportunity to sing some worship songs and pray for my mum who was having
an operation on a torn ligament in her shoulder that morning and for a friend
who was experiencing emotional and spiritual difficulties. Small birds piped
from the bushes and the time passed pleasantly as I took a turn to the right
past a little square stone structure which was perhaps another hermitage?
Soon enough David had caught
up with me as I stopped to examine more wildflowers and we approached the
village of Sansol, named after a Christian martyr from Cordoba. Ahead of us as
we walked up to the village was another of the Korean ladies and what amazed us
about all the Korean women we saw was that they were walking the Camino in
flip-flops which we felt could not be a good idea due to friction blisters and the
lack of protection for the feet? Nonetheless, none of the Korean women seemed
to be experiencing any particular foot problems!
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| Approaching Sansol |
At Sansol we found a
little café cum hardware store which seemed to sell everything from
scallop shells to pliers, and we had coffee and plum cake. Richard the
Anaesthetist and a young French guy called Louis arrived as we were leaving and
walking up to the village church, where from the terrace in front of the church
portal there was a fine view down into the valley of the next village of Torres
del Rio.
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| David outside café at Sansol |
Returning to the walk
we passed two middle-aged pilgrims descending towards Torres holding hands and
carrying matching rucksacks with their names printed on the back. We saluted
them and commented on how very romantic the scene was!
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| View of Torres Del Rio from Sansol |
I was excited to reach
Torres del Rio because in the village is one of the most unusual churches on
the entire Camino Francés – the 12th century octagonal Romanesque
church of the Holy Sepulchre. Similar to the one I saw at Eunate, this one to
my mind is even more architecturally delightful because the central octagon is
crowned by a lantern over the main cupola, with a cylindrical staircase on one side
and a semi-circular apse on the other.
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| Looking back at Sansol Church from Torres Del Rio |
The origins of Iglesia de Santo Sepulcro are obscure;
it may have been linked with the Knights Templar, as octagonal churches based
on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem are often linked with the
Order and the exoticism of such churches is sometimes (probably wrongly) linked
with the Templar’s demise. Other historians think that the church was built as
a mortuary chapel for the burial of pilgrims; medieval burials have been
excavated in front of the church where there was once a graveyard and the
lantern may have acted as a beacon for bringing bodies from the surrounding
landscape at night.
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| Iglesia Santo Sepulcro |
A guardian sat at the
door and stepping inside to have my credencial stamped was a wonderful
experience. Above me was the wonderful lofty cross-ribbed vault which forms an
eight sided star and is said to be emblematic of the Knights Templar. The
extraordinarily complex design is Arabic in origin and owes much to similar
vaults found in the architecture of the Islamic Caliphate of Medieval Cordoba.
The names of some of the disciples were inscribed on the vault, a 13th
century crucifix hung in the apse and there was richly embellished carvings on
the pillar capitals.
I spent a long time
sitting in silence, tracing the ribs on the vault and listening to pigeons
cooing. My reflections were abruptly brought back to the present when a friend
of the guardian’s suddenly poked her head in the door and bellowed “BUENAS
DIAZ!” at her friend and then looked sheepish when she saw me!
Returning outside I
noted some inscriptions in the ancient stonework. David was sitting on a low
wall and suggested we read the two Psalms of Ascents allotted for the day. How
surprised I was and how appropriate it seemed then, given the architectural
connection of Santo Sepulcro with Jerusalem to read:
“I rejoiced with those
who said to me,
“Let us go to the house
of the Lord.”
Our feet are standing in
your gates, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is built like
a city that is closely compacted together”
In that
moment it seemed like the compacted little village of Torres del Rio with it’s
marvellous little temple stood symbolically in for Jerusalem and it’s ancient
Temple and for a moment as Psalm 123 begins, we lifted up our eyes to Him.
Leaving
Torres, David walked on ahead whilst I lingered to take a last look at Santo
Sepulcro and then walking on I was delighted to find on a grassy embankment a
stand of delicate Sombre or Dark Bee Orchids - Ophrys fusca. I kneeled carefully on the ground to photograph them
and enjoy them close up. This was nature’s mimicry at it’s best. Orchids do not
reward visiting insects to their flowers with nectar – it’s all take and no
give with them! In this case the velvety deep red-brown flowers of the orchid
stand out against the light green of the rest of the plant and resemble the
rear end of a female bumble bee – right down to markings on the flower that look
like wing tips and the female bee’s rear legs. The hapless male bumble flies in
excitedly to copulate with what he thinks is a suitable female who has her head
stuck in a flower, but all he gets for his trouble is a back full of pollen
ready to fertilise another orchid as he tries again on the next flower!
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| Sombre Bee Orchid |
I was lying
on the ground when Richard appeared wondering what I was doing. I pointed out
the orchids and he was surprised to hear that there were ground orchids in
Europe. Richard was walking fairly slowly as his legs were giving him a lot of
trouble and this was the last time we saw him as he apparently stopped for the
night at Viana.
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| Hermitage of Nuestra Señora del Poyo |
I caught up
with David and we ascended the 570M hill of Nuestra Señora del Poyo. Poyo in Spanish means raised platform or podium and at it’s
summit was another hermitage after which the hill is named. Beyond this the
Camino descended steeply down a ravine picturesquely called Barranco Mataburros – the Mule-killer
ravine!
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| Church of Santa Maria, Viana |
Louis the
young Frenchman who had been walking with Richard, caught up with us. He told
us he was 18, from Clermont Ferrand in the Massif Central and had already
walked 800 km with a 20kg pack to get this far! He hoped to walk home again too
after reaching Finisterre! Although his English was not great we enjoyed
talking to him and to him and he asked us about our professions and why we were
walking the Camino and we explained that we were Christians. It is always
interesting to hear the reasons why people walk the Camino and what was clear
was that Louis had some deep family hurts in his life but was walking the
Camino to face and work through them. David and I were impressed with his courage
and willingness to confront his hurts. Eventually Louis stopped to have his
lunch and we went on, wishing him well as we had not brought a picnic ourselves
and needed to find lunch. We took the time to pray for him as we walked.
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| Recessed Doorway of Church |
By the time
we reached Viana, a lively town of about 3,600, we were ravenous and dived into
a bar opposite the church portal for pintxos. As usual, the bar looked closed
outside and was dead inside with only a meagre selection of pintxos, but no
sooner had we ordered and started gulping and guzzling our food and vino tinto,
when rent-a-crowd arrived again. The bar filled up, the selection of pintxos
increased exponentially and we sampled more food and wine!
Thus
fortified, we were able to take a quick look at Viana. In 1423 Charles III had
founded the Principality of Viana and
made it a property of the heir to the throne of Navarre. Surrounded by imposing
town walls and old large townhouses the town was lively and impressive.
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| Portal of San Pedro |
The church
was closed but featured an elaborate recessed doorway and in front of it, under
a slab on the ground, lies the grave of the infamous Cesare Borgia. He was the
illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, the first person in history to resign as
a cardinal, a mercenary soldier, he eventually fell foul of Alexander’s
successor Pope Julius II who exiled him to Spain where he was killed in battle
near Viana at Mendavia in 1507. An elaborate tomb was built for him inside the
church but this was vandalised in the 17th century and he was
re-interred outside the church in front of the porch. Some say that he was the
model used by Leonardo Da Vinci for the face of Christ which became the classic
way Christ was portrayed in Renaissance paintings!
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| Surviving fresco in San Pedro |
Further down
the town we examined the ruins of the once impressive 14th century
church of San Pedro where surviving fragments of fresco and a ruined rose
window hinted at it’s former splendour. Why it lies in ruins was unclear to us –
was it war or neglect?
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| Ruined nave of San Pedro |
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