Castrojeriz started out as a place
for the Roman soldiers to guard the Galician gold mines. In the 9th and 10th
centuries, the town was caught between two cultures at war. The town changed hands many times, but
eventually was reconquered for the Christians by Nuño Núñez in 912. For four centuries, the town prospered as a
fortified weigh station and a commercial center for the Camino. There were many French merchants and Jews
that were attracted to the town. An
interesting fact about this is that the town’s fuero, or code of laws, said that anyone that killed a Jew would be
treated just as if they had killed a Christian.
The town was home to the counts of Castro in the middle ages. It began to decline in 1521 when it chose the
losing side for the Comunidades War.
The main street of Castrojeriz is
the pilgrimage Road. In its heyday, the
Road connected 5 churches and 7 pilgrim hospices. Some of the findings of history in the town
can show just how dangerous the pilgrimage can be for some pilgrims. The stretch of the pilgrimage Road in
Castrojeriz is one of the longest urban routes on the Camino, running almost a
mile long.
Important Monuments
The Ex-colegiata de Santa María del
Manzano is one of the major monuments and attractions for the town. The founding of the church can be attributed
to a miracle that happened on the Camino.
As
Santiago (St. James) was passing by, he saw a vision of the Virgin in an apple
tree, and he was so excited that he leaped heavily onto his horse.
The
hoofprints can be seen in the rock outside the south door of the church. There are many pieces of art that are found
in the church that are of great importance.
The
exterior of the church of Santa Maria.
It was closed when we went there, and we also couldn’t find the rock
with the hoof-prints.
Another of the important monuments
is the castle. The origins of the castle
are pre-Roman times, but it is said in legend that it was built by Julius
Caesar or Pompey. The Muslims and
Christians fought over the hill for centuries, but eventually the Christians
won the hill. The castle was rebuilt in
the middle ages by the Condes de Castro and was later the home of the Díaz de
Mendoza family.
The picture on the left is what is left of the ruins of the castle.
While we were there, there was an archeologist that was working on
stabilizing the castle so that it would be there for people to enjoy. The picture on the right is the view of the castle from the ground.
And
yes, we DID climb that whole hill!
The photo on the left was me getting a little artsy-fartsy with one of the windows of the
castle. This actually looks out to the
area where we had our picnic lunch. Who
can say that they’ve ever had a picnic in castle ruins?!?!
More
information can be found at:
My thoughts…
Castrojeriz
is a pretty interesting town. Half of
the town looks as if it is in ruins. We
climbed the hill to the castle and it was a whole different view than it was on
the ground. We were able to see the
whole city. It was really cool to
somewhat get a sense of what it’s like to travel a bit to get somewhere that
you want to be, like what pilgrims do on the Camino. By the time we got up to the castle, I know
that I was exhausted, but the trek was totally worth the view and the history
that we were seeing.
We
also got to talk to a pilgrim while we were in the castle ruins. He was from Australia and had started his
Camino in St. Jean Pied de Port. He has
been on his journey for 14 days. He was
traveling alone, but he talked about how when you get to meals, you find
yourself among a group of people. It was
neat to talk to someone who was actually walking the Camino and going through
the experience that we are learning about.Until next time....
~Emily K. :)
Hi Emily! I'm a former Peregrino (08 trip with "Dr. Mom") I'm loving following your blog post and looking at the photos that are so similar to some taken on our journey. Buen Camino!
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