4th May 2024 Hornillas del Camino to Castrojeriz

The noises started in the adjacent room about 5am but the two German women in our room were still asleep at 7am.  They may not have had much sleep as Steve was snoring quite loudly but he escaped without being suffocated by them!

We headed downstairs for some breakfast before deciding to ship our bags to give Steve’s foot a bit of rest.  Day packs were organised with water, snacks and wet weather gear was donned and we headed out the door and down the street for the 6km walk to San Bol, a municipal albergue in a beautiful valley on the meseta.  This used to be run by volunteer hippies and was renowned for its wild parties and drug consumption but today things are under control.  As there was nowhere for coffee etc – the albergue is the only thing there – we continued on and finally got to Castrojeriz.

This was probably the favourite of my towns on the last Camino and it still embodies all the things that the Camino meant to me then – great, friendly people, good food, nice wine, beautiful buildings and the cherry on top, the Castille on the hill dating back to the 8th Century. 

A bit of history –

Castrojeriz Castle is a medieval castle but the date of construction is not exact, but it dates back approximately to the end of the 8th century . Furthermore, it is located in one of the most important Jacobean towns on the entire Camino de Santiago , since it is surmised to have been founded by Julius Caesar and resisted numerous attacks by troops from northern Europe and Africa.

This infrastructure was built on top of a hill, 900 meters high. With difficult access, for military and defensive use, in order to be able to resist and win the attacks of enemy troops from Northern Europe and Africa and from the territory of Hispania itself. These troops were made up of Visigoths, Celts, Arabs, Romans and Christians.

The history of this Christian building from the Middle Ages was exposed to clashes between troops of the Moorish and Christian armies between the 8th and 9th centuries.

Shortly after, in the year 882 there was a captain named Munio Núñez of the Foramontanos, who was in charge of reforming this fortification that was previously destroyed by the Arabs and in the year 1131 it was annexed by the County of Castile.

This castle is the oldest architectural monument in Castrojeriz, but it underwent numerous renovations such as the expansion of its walls by the Visigoths.

In the year 1755 there was a great earthquake called the Lisbon earthquake which caused a lot of damage (the town also lost two of its five churches and one is still held together to stop the wall falling).  The earthquake was huge – somewhere between 8.7 and 9.0 on the Richter scale but also with very long duration and associated tsunami which resulted in the death of up to 100,000 people.  The earthquake had its epicentre less than 300km from Lisbon.

The castle was also the site of the execution of the Queen of Aragon, Doña Leonor. When her husband died she had gone to the territory of Castile and León with her children, for fear that her nephew Pedro IV would kill them. A few years later she was captured and imprisoned in the castle of Castrojeriz and was beheaded in the year 1358. 

Such an old town is bound to have multiple events happening here but you can imagine all those things happening. 

We will head up to the castle in the morning – rain is due to come in about 2.30 so we want to be back down before then as we also have shopping to do and that must be done before the shops shut at 2pm.

Dinner was delicious – creamy zucchini soup – so thick and comforting and the perfect ending to the day.  Chicken for me and pork for Steve with a glass of vino tinto then an early night looking out through our window to the distant fields and hills.  Chill out rest day tomorrow.