Puente la Reina translates to The Queen’s Bridge, but history is vague as to which queen. The bridge refers to a medieval multi-arch bridge at the far end of town. We haven’t actually seen the bridge yet because we haven’t got the energy to walk that far. The town is about four blocks square, laid out in 1122, so it isn’t all that far.
The town has long catered to pilgrims. A Templar’s hospice was documented in 1146. A 1235 document says the main street was “populated with pilgrims”. In 1447 the custom was to ring the church bells 40 times at 9 and 10 o’clock as a guide to pilgrims that might still be on the road. I just know these things. If you don’t believe me, I can give you the name of the book I got it from.
The walk from Pamplona today came to 26 km, the longest so far. And it involved a major hill or, actually, crossing a range of hills. The highway goes through a tunnel, the pilgrims go over the hill. The way up wasn’t bad, but the way down was a steep stony dry river bed. As a saving grace, it wasn’t raining (as predicted) or it would not have been a dry river bed.
The range of hills is surmounted by a row of more than 50 gigantic wind mills. Spain has invested a lot of (European Union?) money in wind power – currently providing about 1/5th of their electrical requirements.
The top of the hill (Alto del Perdon) also has a row of famous sheet metal sculptures depicting pilgrims. It is courtesy of a movie company.
Another high point along the way was an old church, San Andres, in Zariquiegui. It wasn’t much in itself, but it was the pleasant attitude of the caretakers that was worth remarking. They also had a list of suggestions or meditations to make your pilgrimage more successful. The point of a pilgrimage is religious of course, but even after subtracting the religious part the suggestions could be a life message. We’ll try to get a copy for you off the internet.
The hotel here is in one of those medieval buildings, but has been remodelled in this century – it even has an elevator. The four (approximately) block square town has 13 restaurants – none that we could find open before 7 PM. We settled on a wine bar that eventually became a restaurant as the evening wore on. The highlight tonight was garlic soup.
The town has three major churches, the nearest being one dedicated to Santiago himself. The basic structure is from before 1122, but the interior is baroque 17th century gilded carvings that would be better with more light. The Santiago statue itself is 14th century gothic. The bells rung all afternoon – possibly for a funeral. They are a few feet outside our window. They ring the hours and the quarters. It is going to be a long night.
It boggles my mind as to how these tiny towns can accommodate the numbers of pilgrims. Most must exist because of the Camino. Or at least the economy is based on the Camino. You said 300 pilgrims left the day that you did, that would mean that there has to be places to feed and house 300 every night along the way.
As I look them up, some are just plain “small” places! glad you are among those being well taken care of.
garlic soup sounds good after a long day on the road.
Oh Stacy, I had to laugh out loud at the idea of the bells ringing every quarter of an hour outside of your room…..sleep well!
Stacey, I’m impressed that you could stay awake long enough to even write a blog today! Don’t think those church bells will be a problem tonight! Can’t wait to see the pictures!