Pilgrims on the Way

Between Estella and Los Arcos, there are a number of alternate routes, leading to signs like this. There are those who say that you don’t need a map to walk the Camino – just follow the yellow arrows. Well, I respectfully disagree. A good map is always valuable and well worth the weight of carrying it. Of course, not all […]

For All Souls Day, the Day of the Dead, it is perhaps appropriate that today’s photo is the entrance to the sadly defunct Irache Monastery. The structure is directly across from the wine fountain and dates to the middle ages. In addition to being a spiritual center and a pilgrim’s hostel, it was once an important center of learning, containing […]

Legend has it that at one point in the Middle Ages, an Italian noblewoman endowed a series of fountains on the Camino in Spain with one spigot for water and one spigot for wine. This is the only remaining one, at the Bodegas Irache. It was once operated by the nearby (but sadly defunct) monastery, but now is part of […]

The most usual sign for the Camino is the ubiquitous yellow arrow. In some places, the local government has set up signage, ranging from stone markers to street signs. And of course, sometimes a private organization or citizen will put up their own. This person covers all the bases. Date: 05 April 2016 Place: Estella or possibly Irache (Navarra, Spain) […]

So here I am, having climbed the steps, standing frustrated at the locked door of the church of San Pedro de la Rúa in Estella. This photo is looking vaguely towards the Río Ega. I note that none of my companions were dumb enough to climb up with me. If you look carefully, you can see the three of them […]

The Iglesia de San Pedro de la Rúa is a fortified medieval church in Estella. Weirdly, it houses the tomb of a thirteenth century Bishop of Patras in Greece. Apparently he was walking the Camino incognito and died in his sleep at the nearby albergue of San Nicolás. When he was buried in the pilgrim cemetery in San Pedro’s cloister, […]

Here we see our happy band of pilgrims climbing the weirdly steep bridge over the Río Ega in Estella as the dawn tries to break through the gathering stormclouds. In Estella, even the bridges have steps! Across the river, you can see the looming cliffs and a few steeples of the churches built on high ground. Date: 05 April 2016 […]

This is the back side of the Iglesia San Miguel where Katy and I attended Mass the evening before. This is a pretty vivid reminder of Estella’s very vertical geography. Date: 05 April 2016 Place: Estella (Navarra, Spain) The Day’s Map:

The town of Estella is built into a narrow ravine on either side of the Río Ega. Consequently, there are churches and other important medieval buildings built much higher up than the districts closer to the river, but also on steep rock outcroppings right in the middle of town. If you want to see some of these places, there are […]