My Journey to Santiago de Compostela Part XVI
We left Hontanas at dawn. We first walked through the ruins of San Anton, a convent built in the Twelfth Century to provide assistance to the needy, bread and wine to pilgrims. Nowadays there is a private refuge for pilgrims. Four kilometers later, we arrived in Castrojeriz, a beautiful little town arranged like other villages along the Camino. On this street-route there are several churches and notable buildings. There is a castle, in ruins, which has a lot of history. The village was established by Count Muño (or Nuño Nuñez), who defended the fort at the end of the ninth century against the Arabs. Before that it had been a Celtiberian, Roman and Visigoth fortress.
In 974, Count García Fernández of Castilla granted it a charter, the Charter of Castrojeriz, which is considered to be the first granted in Castilla. It is an example of Jacobean urbanism, with houses located around the street-route, which is the longest of all on the pilgrimage route.
At Castrojeriz, we stopped by a Bed & Breakfast which is a Center for Retreat and Meditation. So much peace in this place, in a town which derives its name from the Arab name “Castro del Xaraiz”, that means “Castro Sangriento” in Spanish. for the bloody battles that were fought there.
Past Castrojeriz, we had another mountain to climb that would take us into the province of Palencia. The hill Alto de Mostelares is often called the “death hill” for three pilgrims died in the space of a decade going up. It was a steep one and the view from up there of the meseta below was spectacular. The arid terrain converted into a beautiful scenery until we reached Boadilla del Camino where we would spend the night.
At dinner in the albergue, we met with a group of pilgrims from Australia. I started a conversation with the lady who was sitting right across me. Her name was Elizabeth and we jokingly said that we had reunited Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip at the table…
