The Camino next follows the river out of Burgos. So, a snap of the cathedral from the south: We’re now on the Ruta del Cid, though not for much. It’s the long tourist trail connecting his birthplace just north of Burgos to the lands of his destierro, and to Valencia, where he finally ruled and [...]
Archive for the ‘N. BURGOS REGION’ Category
OUT OF BURGOS
Posted in N. BURGOS REGION on May 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
JUST QUIETLY, EL CID…
Posted in N. BURGOS REGION, Uncategorized on May 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
…didn’t build these walls. As far as I know, these stones were laid by order of the first count of Castile, in 884 AD. He’s the same count who’s said to be buried in that little ruin of San Felices, the one we passed before the Montes de Oca. That’s a couple of centuries before [...]
BURGOS: BASTION AT THE CROSSROADS
Posted in N. BURGOS REGION, Uncategorized on May 14, 2011 | 2 Comments »
You wonder what it’s doing here, between the Mountains of Oca to the east and that enormous stretch of meseta to the west. Australian cities in places like this usually serve big mining operations. Otherwise, we build our towns for maritime access or as agricultural centres. But Burgos is the scarred bastion of many wars, [...]
ATAPUERCA. AND YOU THOUGHT CLIFF RICHARD WAS DATED!
Posted in N. BURGOS REGION, Uncategorized on May 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Saint John of Ortega was another of those chop-wood-carry-water saints like his friend, Domingo de la Calzada. It’s said that the two local boys worked together on the church and monastery that bear John’s name: the ravishing San Juan de Ortega. It was closed for the season when Agostino and I wanted to look inside. [...]
MONTES DE OCA: A BUMP BEFORE BURGOS
Posted in N. BURGOS REGION, Uncategorized on May 12, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Hold that thought of caves. There are many in the region, and some have taken on a very special importance. But we’ll come to that after we cross a mountain range, the last up-and-down till we reach the other side of Castile. Just below those mountains, the Montes de Oca, we come to a truly [...]
BELORADO: MEDIEVAL MALL
Posted in N. BURGOS REGION, Uncategorized on May 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Spain’s oldest documented market-fair was conceded to Belorado by a King of Aragon who was top-dog for a while in the early twelfth century. I’m guessing it was first held here, near the Church of Santa Maria and the once thriving juderÃa, or Jewish quarter. The town, often favoured in its early days, was granted [...]
