STAGE 14 - CASTROJERíZ to FRóMISTA

Leaving Castrojeríz we headed for the mountain in the distance to trek up "death hill"; a name that it acquired in 2022 when we rode bikes up the winding trail to the top. It just about killed us!

Just short of the climb is this Roman bridge known as the Puente Largo de Bárcenan that crosses the Udro River plain.

And then we begin the climb, looking out over the valley...

It is interesting that there are serious efforts to engage in reforestation. Notice the rows of trees...

At the top looking back towards Castrojeríz...

After a relatively short hike over along the mesa at the top you come to these signs...

The descent... 1/4 mile at an 18% grade!!!! Crazy.

And, Jannette was off...

As you can see the next few miles were fields, rolling hills, and some relatively flat stretches.

This is the Ermita de San Nicolás de Puente Fitero near the Pisuerga River. Its origins possibly date back to the 12th and 13th centuries. It is composed of a single nave in the Romanesque style. Its membership in the Order of the Knights of St. John, later known as the Order of Malta, is documented and linked to the presence of the nearby Fitero Bridge over the Pisuerga River.

Today the ermita provides lodging to pilgrims.

Just meters away is the Puente de Fitero. Built in the 11th century and remodeled in the 17th century, the bridge was the project of Alfonso VI de León. It was a major point that united the kingdoms of Castilla and León.

So, we finally arrived in Frómista to discover that ALL the restaurants had "just" closed (even though their own posted hours indicated that were still open!). We didn't let our famished bodies stop us from visiting  one of our favorite churches, the Iglesia de San Martín de Tours de Frómista.

Built during the second half of the 11th century by order of doña Mayor de Castilla as part of a monastery of San Martín (no longer in existence). The church follows the order of Romanesque architecture. Along the eaves of the church are some 316 figures known as "canecillos" ("corbels") that represent a wide range of figures. Some believed that these corbels were configured as reminders that the outside world is subject to the flesh (ergo, many of the figures represent the deadly sins, unclean animals, and non-Christians. For Christians in the middle ages there was a sense of outside (the world) and inside (the church or spirituality). To cross the threshold of a church was to abandon the world and enter into the presence of the Divine. If you enter the church through its south doors you pass between two columns. On the one side is a representation of CONTENTION and on the other RECONCILIATION:

Perhaps a reminder to the faithful that these extremes exist and that the RECONCILIATION (which is to the right of the person entering the church) must outweigh CONTENTION (which is to the left). As you enter the nave there are a whole array of beautiful capitals decorated with vegetation. There are some, beginning to the columns closest to the apse and moving towards the back of the nave that depict...

Adam and Eve in the Garden with God

Eve being tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit. Notice that Adam has his hand to his throat; symbolic of the fall and sin; the Adam's apple.

The Virgen Mary with the Christ Child with the visit of the Magi.

One consistent story that I have noticed in Visigothic and Romanesque churches has been the representation of David in the lion's den. The den was equated with Hell and the two lions/beasts as death. In Christian iconography the story of Daniel is one of triumph over death; just as Christ descended into the depths only to rise above all things and conquer death.

If you step to back of the church and stand near the north door portal you will see another interesting capital that depicts the fable of the fox and the crow.

The story below is a translation of the story from a 13th-century book known as Libro de buen amor by Juan Ruiz, the Arcipreste de Hita:

The crafty fox one day was walking hungry; she saw the black raven who was perched in a tree; he was carrying a big piece of cheese in his beak; she cajoled him most sweetly with her flattery.

"O raven so handsome, you are kin to the swan in whiteness and wit, beautiful and gleaming you sing more sweetly than all the other birds; if you would sing one song, I would sing twenty in exchange for it.

You sing better than the lark or the parrot; you trill better than the thrush or the nightingale or the jay; if you would only sing now, you would rid me right away of all the sorrow I bear, better than by doing anything else."

The rave truly imagined that his warbling delighted everybody more than any other singing; he thought that his tongue and his loud croaking gladdened people more than any other minstrel could.

He began to sing, to raise up his voice; the cheese fell out of his mouth; the vixen promptly went and ate it; the crow became grief-stricken with the injury.

False honor and vainglory and deceitful smiles bring grief and sorrow and harm without delay; many believe that the vineyard-keeper is guarding the pathway, but it is really the scarecrow which is up on the scaffold.

It is not safe to believe sweet flattery; from such a sweet thing is wont to come a sour slice... (verses 1437-1443).

By placing the representation of PRIDE and SIN at the north doors we have a wonderful complement to the south doors with their reminder of CONTENTION and RESOLUTION giving us a fuller vision of the pitfalls of human nature and how entering into the presence of God is the means of escaping these vices (as well as those that menace us from the outside of the church).

There is so much to see and learn. The message is clear that as we step away from the world and enter into the presence of God we are to shed ourselves of worldly vices and, with humble heart, approach the Savior whose figure is placed at the head of the nave and towards whom we are to direct our gaze.