Walking the Camino de Santiago
As you walk through Villava towards Pamplona, just as the cathedral becomes visible in the distance, there is a street off to the left with decorated houses. The designs are realized in shells and stones in concrete, and they range from the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Navarra (seen here on the building on the right) to religious […]
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The initial view of Villava betrays its medieval origin, even if most of the construction you see here is modern. This main street would have been a highway in the day. After a while of this sort of terrain, it becomes a modern city proper with modern asphalt streets. I like this sort of thing much better. Date: 01 April […]
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After you cross the stone bridge over the narrow Rio Ulzama, the Basilica de la Santísima Trinidad de Arre is to the right, and the Camino continues to the left. Just a little ways on, we came to a sign welcoming us to the Pamplonan suburb of Villava, founded in AD 1184. Just a reminder that in Spain, even the […]
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All of the statues in the basilica are naturalistic, and every one of them is in the same style and colour scheme. Where other statues of the saints looked pleading, I found the one of the Blessed Virgin Mary almost serene in her beauty. Date: 01 April 2016 Place: Arre / Villava (Navarra, Spain) Our current position may be found […]
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The interior of the Basilica de la Santísima Trinidad de Arre is painted yellow and orange, with architectural details in a cream colour and moldings and other details in crimson. It is one of the more interesting church colour schemes I’ve seen in Spain. The altar and all other furnishings are in a deep, dark wood with gilded detail, also […]
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During both of our Caminos, I look a lot of photos of doors. There’s something about such a liminal space that just draws me in. They are full of endless possibilities. This particular door is at the end of a lovely stone bridge, and it leads into the Basilica de la Santísima Trinidad de Arre. Arre used to be a […]
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Two bells hang at the top of the fortress-like bell tower of the little church of San Esteban in Zabaldika. The smaller of the two, made in 1377, is said to be the oldest in all of Navarra. This was the one I was allowed to ring. I‘m kind of breaking a rule here by including a few other photos, […]
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In the little church of San Esteban in Zabaldika stands a Crucifix surrounded by Post-It notes. Some are prayers, some are messages of encouragement to future pilgrims, and some just contain the names and dates when the pilgrim visited the church. Anyone can leave one. I don’t know how often they’re cleaned up – I expect once a year or […]
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The little church of San Esteban has a beautiful, but rustic, high altar. Apologies for the slight blurriness. Someday, I’ll get a better camera. The retablo features many of the saints associated with the area, including San Esteban (St Stephen) directly above the tabernacle and Santiago (St James) to the left of the tabernacle. As in many of the Spanish […]
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What is it with Basque towns starting with the letter Z? First Zubiri, then Zurián, now Zabaldika. Francine was in no mood to climb the hilly detour, so I climbed up by myself to the 12th century church of San Esteban in Zabaldika to pray a while. The church was built like a fortress, to keep out the local bandits […]
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