After a great night’s sleep in Belorado we headed off early again, anxious to get to the big town of Burgos, to enjoy a rest day, and to take in the town.
Images of Saint James – Santiago – are everywhere along the Camino route. The weathervane above is a particularly clever one we found on a small village church along the path. Note the pilgrim’s hat, staff and gourd, and the red cross. This is the “Saint James Cross” and was also the symbol for a Medieval order, the Knights of Santiago. Note that it is a cross, the Christian symbol, but also rather like a sword, the weapon of the knights. It is red, like the Templar’s red cross, but rather more elaborate. Look for another post soon regarding the Images of Saint James.
In early afternoon, we arrived in Burgos, lunched at a café, found our lodging, and then set out to explore the town.
The “Old Town” of Burgos is dominated by the Cathedral of Santa Maria of Burgos. The structure is huge, ornate, and complicated. We’ll share just a few pictures to illustrate the wealth of religious art here. Begun in 1221, its original construction took more than a century, and then it has been added on to and re-constructed over the years, so the building reflects many styles – romanesque, baroque, but mostly gothic.
Since it was a “must see” of Burgos (one of many), we went for the tour this evening. We entered at 5:45 and told that it closed at 6:30 – which would be plenty of time to tour your usual church. But this place is massive, with a huge central nave, a choir, a transept, a cloister and some 18+ chapels. Happily, no one kicked us out at 6:30. It was 7:30 before we finished up, and we could have spent hours more. It is truly glorious.
We look forward to spending a full day in Burgos tomorrow.
