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Links to individual Bellatrovata pages
Bellatrovata and Paradoxplace are the creations of Adrian Fletcher
All original material © Adrian Fletcher 2000-07 - The contents may not be reproduced without permission. Feedback and comments to Adrian Fletcher
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Bellatrovata
SPRING IN SPAIN 2006 THE CAMINO FRANCES 1 FROM SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA TO LEON |
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Map of the Camino de Compostela / Camino Frances - from the excellent MSM book "The Roads to Santiago de Compostella"
It's quite a long haul from Santiago de Compostela to Leon and really needs more than one day to allow for exploration and appreciation of the beautiful mountain scenery in the central section of the route. One possible stopping point is Samos, where the village beside the fast flowing river and the huge monastery of Santo Domingo de Samos has a pleasant ski village feeling, and a couple of hotels ( one is the Hotel a Veiga - tel 982 54 60 52, fax 982 54 61 13 )
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Melide (east of Santiago de Compostela) - the compact church, and the cruceiro (right) which is claimed to date from the 1000s and to be the oldest in the NW. As the road climbs into the mountains the churches get tinier - one almost senses the hand of Saint Francis who indeed did once pass this way (1213 - 1214) on a pilgrimage to Santiago. Also the building materials change to slate and cementless uncut flint stone walls. |
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Portomarín - the main door (with musicians as in Compostela Cathedral) of the fortress like Templar Church of Saint Nicholas, which was moved stone by stone up the hill in the late 1950s when it's valley was dammed and later flooded. |
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Two pilgrims arrive at the huge monastery of Santo Domingo de Samos. |
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Up and through the "altos" of Poio (1335M) and San Roque (1270M) - cold and windy, beautiful mountain shrubbery and a smell of shit everywhere (seriously). Then it's Cebreiro (1300M), the last pass before the descent past the Cistercian Abbey of Carracedo (closed)) and the Templar Castle at Ponferrada .
Cebreiro is a real "mountain pass village", and it's got a good feel - even though it's of necessity a nic-nac place!
Amazingly, the large group in the church of O Cebreiro (below) were lustily singing a hymn in English (choir outing ? - their bus was round the corner as was Dom P's Peugeot). The church has its own Miracle of the Eucharist legend. |
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With many settings like this, it's easy to see why this is a very popular section of the walk to Compostela (especially if you get bussed up to the top of the "hills" at the start ! ). |
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Links to individual Bellatrovata pages
Bellatrovata and Paradoxplace are the creations of Adrian Fletcher
All original material © Adrian Fletcher 2000-07 - The contents may not be reproduced without permission. Feedback and comments to Adrian Fletcher
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