Santo Domingo de la Calzada

                Domingo García established the town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Before the 11^th century, the region that Santo Domingo de la Calzada is located in, Rioja, was not a safe or secure place to travel. García changed that when he started building and enhancing the Road that pilgrims traveled on. García started out as a sheepherder but decided to become a monk. However, because of doing so poorly in his studies, he was not allowed to continue. That never stopped him from leading his life in one or religious service. He built a bridge over the Oja river and built a road through the forest. By the end of the 11^th century, he changed an old ruined fort into a hospice for pilgrims which then caused a small town to appear with it. Unfortunately, Santo Domingo de la Calzada was captured and recaptured by different people until finally in 1134 it was officially part of Castilla. In the 12^th century, the town grew because of the pilgrims coming and going. The original church was burned down in the mid-12^th century, but another building was built where it was called the colegiata and in 1227, Pope Honorious III moved the bishopric from Calahorra to Santo Domingo. In the 14^th century, Santo Domingo became a city of war and a wall was built around the city. Today, there are fragments of 8 towers, 300 meters of the wall, and 2 gates.

                Santo Domingo de la Calzada’s importance to the pilgrimage consists of hospices founded by the saint and his relics. Also, the legend of the “hanged innocent” from the miracles of Saint James is said to have occurred in Santo Domingo instead of Toulouse. It also gives credit to the Riojan Saint rather than Santiago. There are “objects from the miracle” over Santo Domingo’s tomb.

                Monuments to see include the cathedral, Monasterio de las Barnardas, Monasterio de San Francisco, the hospital, and the Ayuntamiento.

               In my opinion, I thought that the Cathedral was absolutely beautiful. The architecture in this part of the world just blows your mind when you look at what people hundreds of years ago built without modern technology. It is also amazing because these building are still standing where others newer than these are crumbling to the ground. What is also interesting about the Cathedral is that the items inside of the cathedral are not arranged as we might originally think. The choir is located behind the congregation and the piece that is supposed to be behind the altar is actually located on the side of the church. Little pieces such as this makes a person like me become interested in the design.

               Something that is quite obvious in this particular church is the fact that there are live chickens living in a box in the church. And yes, I mean actual live chickens. They are in the cathedral because they represent the miracle that occurred in Santo Domingo de la Calzada. That miracle is the legend of the "hanged innocent."Basically this legend is about a boy who gets hanged for a crime that he did not commit and he was saved by St. James. So what does this have to do with chickens in a cathedral? Well, legend has it that the family of the boy who was hung went looking for an official to rescue him and this particular official did not believe in the miracle. Well, his chicken dinner suddenly became part of the legend when the said dead chickens miraculously came to life. Wouldn't it be fun to get food at a restaurant and before eating it suddenly came to life? Well, that's the legend and that is why there are chickens living in the cathedral in a glass box above where Santo Domingo lays.

 This is the street that the cathedral is located on. This sign translates as "Christ Street."

 This is inside the cathedral. The light on top of the doorway is where the live chickens from the miracle are located.

 This is the retablo that is located behind the altar. However, in this cathedral, the retablo is actually located on the side of the church rather than right behind the altar.

This is a picture of the outside of the cathedral. Directly to the right on this picture is the tower that is part of the cathedral.

This is a picture of a statue of a pilgrim.This is located inside of the cathedral.

This is the lovely organ that is in the cathedral in the choir loft.

This is the tomb of Santo Domingo. This crypt is located directly below a statue of the tomb of Santo Domingo. If you go down into the crypt, you can actually see the statue above.

 This is another picture of the live chickens. This is also a picture of Sir Victor, our knight, "hanging out" with the chickens of the miracle of Saint James.

For all you music majors or music lovers, this is an old fashioned hymnal. This is what the music looked like during Medieval times. This book is about the size of a carry-on luggage. The book is made this size because all of the singers of the choir had to look off of the same music. So you could have about 20 people all looking off of one book. Hence, the large size of the hymnal.

This is part of the old city wall. This is a tower that is along the wall and the shell that is down at the bottom is a sign for the Camino.


Buen Camino Amigos!
Ashley