Nájera 2

I liked the gargoyles on the outside of the Palencia cathedral.


The bishop's door, Palencia cathedral.


The carving on the pulpit in the Palencia cathedral.


More jamons for Kent

Today must have been cathedral day for us. We got an early (8 am) start on the 40 minute drive south (and off the camino track) to the medium size farming town of Palencia. The cathedral here was built over the original 7th century Visigothic church, of which some parts remain. Except for the main door, it is somewhat plain looking outside, but is one of the largest of the Castillian cathedrals at 130 meters long. The inside is a different story. From carved wood altarpiece panels, carved stone choir screen, and the carved oak pulpit, plus more, this is a grand cathedral for a smaller and relatively unknown town.

Next was an hour or so drive to Burgos and it's well known cathedral. Since I already covered this cathedral in earlier posts, there is no need now for further elaboration. Kathy and I went through it at midday, then ate lunch at a restaurant in the cathedral plaza.

Next another hour or so east to Santo Domingo de la Calzada. On this part of the drive, the pilgrim camino parralled the road that we took. We ended up in Santo Domingo about 4 but the cathedral did not open till 5 pm. We waited around, then viewed the cathedral, then drove on to another camino town that I previously stayed at, Nájera. We will spend the night at a hostal here, then on to the La Rioja wine region for tomorrow.

From guest blogger Kathy: What is the fascination with cathedrals? They are certainly not all the same. Each has it's own character, design, and strong points. John and I both read Pillars of the Earth and World without End since our last Spain visit fours years ago. It is interesting to see how these vast structures were built given the limited technologies of 600 to 1000 years ago.