23 September 2018
Our legs were tired after 4 hard days of walking, so we spent a rest day in Ponferrada. This was a great city to relax in, especially with the incredible castle and fortress of the Knights Templar.
We were able to go to our own church services on Sunday morning, and in the afternoon we walked across the street from our hotel and toured the fortress.
The Knights Templar maintained this enormous structure for about 200 years, protecting pilgrims along the Camino de Santiago. In the 1300s, all Knights Templar were rounded up and executed by French and church authorities. All that remains of the Knights Templar is this incredible structure.
We came across lots of street performers, including a group of Galician musicians playing their regional version of bagpipes. The culture in this part of Spain is very Celtic, so traditional music here sounds like it came out of Scotland or Ireland.
We felt renewed after spending the day doing as little as possible to let our bodies recover. Hopefully, we will be ready to face the next stages of this trek in the few weeks that we have left of this journey. (So far we are 66 miles along on our 200-mile trek).
Knights Templar castle and fortress
Main entry over the moat
Entry gate into the fortress.
View of the Ponferrada cathedral from the fortress.
Window with a view of the entry gate.
Tunnel-like doors within the fortress.
Galician bagpipe band. This region is very Celtic. Musical traditions and culture here are more similar to what you would find in Ireland and Scotland than in the rest of Spain.
Drummers for the pipe band.
Galician pipes - similar to Scottish bagpipes but with their own unique sound
View of Ponferrada from the Knights Templar castle.
Ancient city center of Ponferrada.
Final night shot of the castle - farewell Ponferrada!
What a glorious rest day I imagine you had! And in such a beautiful place! Did the music sound like the Galician stuff you've heard before?
ReplyDelete