Explore Castilla y León and La Rioja
- Salamanca
- Ciudad Rodrigo
- Sierra de Francia
- Zamora and around
- Valladolid and around
- Palencia and around
- Along the Río Duero to Soria
- Soria and around
- Logroño and La Rioja Province
- Burgos
- South and east of Burgos
- The Camino de Santiago: Burgos to León
- León
- Astorga
- Castrillo de los Polvazares
- Ponferrada
- Las Médulas
- Villafranca del Bierzo
For the very fittest of the pilgrims, it was one day’s walk (50km) southwest of León to the next major stop at ASTORGA. The town has a long history – originally settled by the Romans (of whom many traces remain), sacked by the Moors in the eleventh century, then rebuilt and endowed with the usual hospices and monasteries, but as the pilgrimage lost popularity in the late Middle Ages, Astorga fell into decline. These days it’s a bustling, if small, provincial capital that once again places much emphasis on the pilgrimage, full of footsore hikers and Santiago souvenir shops, not to mention an incongruously grand cathedral and an even more out-of-place modernista bishop’s palace, the latter now used as a museum dedicated to the camino.
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No one shall pass
No one shall pass
En route to Astorga, romantics will want to make the slight diversion off the highway to the small town of Hospital de Órbigo, 36km southwest of León. It was here, legend has it, that in 1434 Don Suero de Quiñones, a jilted knight, defeated three hundred men in a jousting tournament at the town’s famous twenty-arched medieval bridge. Standing on the beautifully restored bridge today, it’s easily imagined – astride a horse, furious at the world, picking off all-comers with a whacking great lance. And as only foot traffic is allowed, the long, cobbled bridge is still one of those places where the Camino de Santiago really reaches back into history, with knots of hiking pilgrims crossing all day, falling gratefully into one of the small cafés at the Astorga end of the bridge.
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The Maragatos
The Maragatos
Astorga is the traditional market town of the Maragatos, a distinct ethnic group of unknown origin, possibly descended from the Berbers of North Africa, who crossed into Spain with the first Moorish incursions of the early eighth century. For several centuries, they dominated the Spanish carrying trade with their mule trains. Marrying only among themselves, they maintained their traditions and individuality well into recent decades. However, apart from the locally famous Maragato cocido – a typically hearty stew made with up to seven types of meat and sausage, plus chickpeas and cabbage – their only obvious legacy to Astorga is the pair of colourful clockwork figures dressed in traditional costume who jerk into action to strike the hour on the town-hall clock in Plaza Mayor.
