Walking the Camino de Santiago
On our way back to our albergue after dinner, Mass, and some sightseeing, I snapped this photo of the town as we crossed its eponymous bridge. I love the way the buildings just sort of glow in the light of the setting sun. They seemed so grey and lifeless earlier in the afternoon, but now they looked warm and inviting. […]
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Before and after our pincho dinner, we popped into a couple of the churches in Puente la Reina. This is the high altar of one of them. I cannot remember the name, but this is where we went to Mass that evening. Once again, I must apologize for the fuzziness of the photo. Taking decent indoor photos in low light […]
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After checking into our albergue and showering, Francine and I made our way back to town where we visited a pair of churches and had platefuls of pinchos for dinner. Both churches were dominated by enormous altar retablos, guilded and painted. This is not a photo of one those. Instead, this is a lovely, somewhat primitive statue of Santiago himself, […]
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In our search for a decent albergue with available beds, we crossed the long Romanesque bridge out of town for a large, modern facility on the opposite bank. Here Francine poses in the wind on the bridge, and behind her you can see the town. You can also see the looming storm. Date: 03 April 2016 Place: Puente La Reina […]
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Puente La Reina’s Calle Mayor ends in this little archway, which in medieval times formed part of the town’s defenses. Through this gate is the actual Puente La Reina itself – the Bridge of the Queen. There is some confusion about which queen the bridge is actually named for. The most common story is that it is named for Queen […]
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This is a look down Calle Mayor – essentially Main Street – in Puente La Reina. Here our plucky pilgrim band is trying to find an albergue. There are several in town, but they were largely not recommended or else full. The narrow little street is mostly lined with ecclesial buildings, then shops, then bars and cafés. At the very […]
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Our day’s destination was the town of Puente La Reina, a name which means “Bridge of the Queen”. More on that in later days. The town is jam-packed with churches and other ecclesial buildings. The building on the left in this photo is a seminary, and the building on the right is a church – one of at least three […]
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Here we are all adjusting our packs after saying our goodbyes to San Guillermo and leaving the church of San Juan Bautista de Obanos. This lovely archway, with the coat of arms of the monastery of Roncesvalles, leads out of the little plaza in front of the church. From here the Camino wends it way out of town and towards […]
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In this long shot of the church interior, you can get some idea of how it all comes together, as well as a sense of scale. It’s an odd church, but beautiful in a contemporary way that does no injury to traditional church design. Francine is provided for scale. If you’d like to see more photos of this church, check […]
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The art found throughout the parish church of San Juan Bautista de Obanos is unlike most of what you find in Spain, which tends to be a thick layer of Baroque poured over a base coat of Gothic or Romanesque. This church was built and furnished in the early and mid 1910s, and much of it is informed by Art […]
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