Walking the Camino de Santiago
I‘m standing in the middle of the road, looking up through the ruins of San Antón. Three years before, I’d taken a very similar photo, but a dove flew through the window as I was taking the shot. You can see that here. This place really evokes for me the lonely centuries through which the Camino has passed. It is […]
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We ate our packed lunch in the ruins of San Antón. As you can see, the road goes right through the ruin. Apparently, in medieval times the bit on the left was the monastery and church, and the bit on the right was the pilgrim hostel. Since 2002, there has been a primitive albergue located within the ruins on the […]
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Van is provided for scale. This is all that remains of the Monastery of San Antón, founded in 1146. Most of the current surviving structure was built in the 1400s. This was the main Preceptory of the Antonian Order of monks in Spain. This Order was dedicated to the care of pilgrims and the care of those who suffered from […]
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The Camino turns into pleasant a tree-lined lane, and in the distance we see San Antón. This was once a great monastery and pilgrim hostal. Though it is now a ruin – and we’ll have some rather more spectacular photos of it in the coming days – in recent years a new albergue has been built among the ruins. Sadly, […]
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As we walk past the last of the San Miguel ruins, Francine turns around. I like to think to blow me a kiss, but it’s far more likely she’s trying to figure out why I’m so far behind. Date: 14 April 2016 Place: Between Hontanas and San Antón (Castilla y León, Spain) Today’s map:
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This treeless stretch of the Meseta just past Hontanas is no fun in the heat. Then, as you round a hill, an eerie sight comes into view. This bare ruin to the left is known as San Miguel. I’ve been told that it’s the remains of a castle, or a convent, or even a mill. What seems clear, however, is […]
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This is a view of the bell tower of the Iglesia de La Inmaculada Concepción in Hontanas. Here’s the thing that bugged me about this: the clock is off-center. Drives me bats. There’s a belfry joke in there somewhere, but you’ll have to assemble it yourself. And yes, I think the clock is accurate. We spent a LOT of time […]
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Well, street, anyway. Like many of the old medieval villages on the Camino, the Camino itself is the main street. It winds past the church, any cafés or bars, shops, bakeries, you name it. And, of course, since it’s the Camino, basically everybody is going in the same direction. Note those ominous, grey clouds on the horizon. More on them […]
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We had breakfast in a brand-spanking new albergue / restaurant in Hontanas. With the explosion in pilgrim numbers over the past decades, we saw many new or refurbished places on the Camino. It still isn’t a candle to the number of hostels and inns of the High Middle Ages. Of course, in those days you also had to walk back […]
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As I’ve mentioned before, many of the towns and villages of the Meseta are in river valleys. Here we are coming to the first town of the day, Hontanas, looking for some breakfast. It’s still pretty early – Hontanas is only an hour or so past San Bol. In other news, I think we left the straw hat at San […]
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