28 September 2018
15.6 miles in 6 hours 17 minutes (including breaks)
Today's walk led us through the lush green forests and farmlands of Galicia.
The number of pilgrims on the trail increased significantly starting in Sarría. This is because the minimum distance a person must walk in order to get a Compostela (official document stating you completed the Camino de Santiago) is 100 kms, and Sarría sits right at the 100 km point.
We finally arrived at our destination of Portomarín, an ancient city originally built by the Romans on a river. An interesting part of the city's history was the effect of putting in a dam 50 years ago. This required moving everyone to higher ground. The government built new houses for the residents. However, they had to disassemble the historic 12th-century church, stone-by-stone, and reassembled it on its new, higher location, a project that took years to complete.
An impressive Roman bridge sits in the valley. It was too massive to move, so it now sits submerged below the water in the reservoir for 6 months of the year. Luckily, we arrived at the end of the growing season and the reservoir was fully drained so we could see the bridge.
Potomarín was a pretty little town. Sometimes it is hard to move onward every day.
15.6 miles in 6 hours 17 minutes (including breaks)
Today's walk led us through the lush green forests and farmlands of Galicia.
The number of pilgrims on the trail increased significantly starting in Sarría. This is because the minimum distance a person must walk in order to get a Compostela (official document stating you completed the Camino de Santiago) is 100 kms, and Sarría sits right at the 100 km point.
We finally arrived at our destination of Portomarín, an ancient city originally built by the Romans on a river. An interesting part of the city's history was the effect of putting in a dam 50 years ago. This required moving everyone to higher ground. The government built new houses for the residents. However, they had to disassemble the historic 12th-century church, stone-by-stone, and reassembled it on its new, higher location, a project that took years to complete.
An impressive Roman bridge sits in the valley. It was too massive to move, so it now sits submerged below the water in the reservoir for 6 months of the year. Luckily, we arrived at the end of the growing season and the reservoir was fully drained so we could see the bridge.
Potomarín was a pretty little town. Sometimes it is hard to move onward every day.
Layers of fog covered Sarría as we left early in the morning.
Yellow arrows (and Sandy) make sure that pilgrims stay on the right path.
An ancient castle in Sarría overlooks the Camino de Santiago as pilgrims leave town.
Wall murals in Sarría document the centuries of pilgrims that have passed through.
The Camino led us through dense forests for most of the day's journey.
Such a gentle, joyous path we followed.
Leaves were changing color as the autumn temperatures drop.
The dense forests gave us good shade thoughout the day.
An unexpected surprise awaited along the trail. This Galician piper playing the Gaita said he often stands along the trail to play for the passing pilgrims.
The number of pilgrims from around the world increased significantly after leaving Sarría.
Along the trail we sometimes see these Galician 'Hórreos', elevated storage barns to protect food from rodents.
Typical rock house in this region of Galicia, along with some early Halloween decorations.
The first sight that greeted us on arriving at Portomarín were the bridges. The tallest is the modern bridge. The lower one was built by the Romans and is now submerged most of the year by a reservoir. The water had drained at this point in the season, so we could see the ancient bridge.
The ancient Roman bridge (below and behind the new bridge) was too massive to move when they built the dam 50 years ago, so it now sits submerged most of the year.
The fortress-church of San Xoan Hosptialarios was moved, stone-by-stone, to this location when they put in the dam. It was used as both a church and a fortress during the 1100s when Spaniards were battling the Moorish invaders in this region.
This statue of St. James (Santiago) pointed the way out of town when it was time for us to move on.
We are now more than 2/3 of the way from León to Santiago de Compostela. Our journey across northern Spain has been a joyous but physically challenging experience. The Camino calls us onward to Santiago, which we hope to reach by next week.
Progress Map
This is so awesome. I’ve followed your journey each day and love seeing what each day holds!
ReplyDeleteWhat a huge feat, to move that stone building stone by stone! Thanks for sharing your journey with us!
ReplyDeleteThat's so interesting about that bridge and reservoir!
ReplyDelete