ITINERARY
B
= Breakfast L = Lunch
D = Dinner
DAY 1 Casa Sarasa, Berdún D
Arrival. Transfer from Biarritz to Casa Sarasa in Berdún.
DAY 2 Somport to Villanua B
L D
Following the Camino de Santiago from the French - Spanish
border at Somport (1640m) to the village of Villanua (953m)
the walk follows the Rio Aragón on a path through alpine
pasture, woods and fields. After the walk we make a trip to
see the ancient church of San Adrian.
Highlights:
The Hospital de Santa Cristina - one of the most famous pilgrim hostels of the middle ages is now a ruin (being excavated) in the high pastures just below the Somport pass.
Canfranc International Railway Station
- built in the 1920's to serve the rail tunnel to France.
An amazing Belle Epoque building in alpine scenery!
Romanesque pilgrim bridges over the beautiful Rio Aragón.
San Adrián Church hidden in a beautiful valley this Lombard/Romanesque building founded in the late 900's was once an important monastery church and was the base of the earliest aragonese bishopric at the start of the Reconquista (reconquest of Spain from the Moors).
Side trip to Sta María de Iguacel/San Adrian de Borau.
DAY 3 Castiello to Jaca B
L D
The Camino follows the drovers road (cabañera) from
Castiello on a short and picturesque walk (7.5km) to Jaca,
the first large town medieval pilgrims would have come to
when walking into Spain. A bustling provincial town, Jaca
has a magnificent Romanesque cathedral and the Ciudadela fortress
started by Philip the second in 1595 and built with an impregnable
star shaped design.
After having a good look around Jaca we make an optional
walk to Peña Oroel - the mountain to the south which
dominates Jaca and has been a place of magic and worship since
before the Romans came to Spain.
Highlights:
A pretty and easy 7.5km walk
approaching Jaca along the drovers/pilgrim road.
Jaca Cathedral The first cathedral built in Spain. Founded in 1058 by Sancho, king of Aragón and Navarre. This pilgrim church was built under the influence of the Benedictine monastery of Cluny in France. The church has many wonderful sculptures (capitals and timpana) made by the Maestro de Jaca between 1065 and 1080. In the cloister, there is a superb museum with Romanesque frescoes and sculptures from hermitages and churches in the Jaca area.
Peña Oroel the sacred
mountain. This is a beautiful walk to the top of the mountain
dominating Jaca to the South. There are magnificent 360°
views over the surrounding mountains and valleys and the walk
to the top takes us through superb silver fir and beech forest.
Peña Oroel has always been a sacred spot and we visit
the cave/hermitage of the Virgen de la Cueva where the local
people of the area venerate the Virgin Mary with a Romeria
(pilgrimage) every May as they have done for over 1000 years
and possibly well before when the cave was most likely a place
of pagan worship.
DAY 4 The Monastery of San Juan de La Peña B L D
A fascinating walk on a rarely trodden path that once would have been taken by medieval pilgrims as a detour from the main Camino path to see the holy relics (including the Holy Grail) at the monastery of San Juan de La Peña. Oak forest, views of Pyrenees Atarés traditional rooves Losa.
Highlights:
A walk in a magical landscape, unchanged since the
middle ages, with ancient oak forest, honey coloured cliffs
where vultures nest and, at the top of the Peña (hill/mountain),
views for miles north and south.
The Monastery of San Juan de La Peña.
The monks of San Juan knew how to pick a good spot for their
monastery. The earlier monastery founded in the early 1000's
nestles under an overhang in the cliffs by a holy well and
has an open air cloister with fantastic Romanesque, sculpted
capitals. The newer Baroque monastery set in meadows at the
top of La Peña was built after a disastrous fire destroyed
most of the first monastery. San Juan de la Peña was
founded and sponsored by the kings of Aragón and many
of them are buried here in the Royal Mausoleum. The monastery
was one of the richest in Aragón and was a centre for
painting and the arts during the middle ages. Museum.
DAY 5 The Camino de Santiago down the Hecho Valley B L D
Todays' walk is along another branch of the Camino de Santiago
which comes into Spain over the Col de Pau and along the Roman
road down the Hecho Valley - one of the most beautiful valleys
in the Pyrenees.
Highlights:
The walk in beautiful alpine scenery follows the course of the Roman road built by Caesar Agustus 2000 years ago.
Neolithic and early Bronze age dolmens and stone circles dated at 4 - 5000 years old are testimony to the first inhabitants of the valley who would have spent the summers here with their flocks.
Alpine flowers and birds of prey. The Hecho Valley is unrivalled for its huge variety of flora and fauna. We will see many birds of prey soaring above us, including the magnificent Lammergeier the 'Condor of the Pyrenees', the rarest of the vulture family with an 8 feet wingspan. The alpine meadows are studded with many alpine flowers, orchids especially, in early summer.
The Boca del Infierno gorge is really impressive with limestone pinnacles towering above the best preserved part of the Roman Road.
We end the walk at the lovely village of Siresa where we visit the Monastery church of San Pedro de Siresa. The monastery was founded by Charlemagne in the late 800's when the valley was a Frankish foothold in a country mostly controlled by the Moors. The church itself dates from the 1100's and is a beautiful Romanesque constuction with some exceptional and very rare medieval sculptures.
La Mina - Hecho. Siresa. Dolmens.
DAY 6 On the Camino from Hecho to Biniés past the Hermitage of the Eleven Thousand Virgins B L D
Today's walk from Hecho to Biniés follows the Hecho
branch of the Camino up and over the Sierra de Los Dos Rios
to descend to Biniés in the Veral/Ansó Valley.
The walk is through open mixed, mountain woodland and fields
and descends on a dramatic path above the amazing Biniés
Gorge (Foz de Biniés). At 25 km this is the longest
walk of the week with a 425m ascent.
Highlights:
A fascinating route taking you back in time. These
hills are nowadays rarely visited but until recently were
used as winter farms by the people of Hecho. We'll see the
old farms and fields and the ruins of a Romanesque monastery
called the Hermitage of the Eleven Thousand Virgins!
Fabulous views from the Sierra de Los Dos Rios and down into the Biniés Gorge.
Birds and wildlife are fascinating
in this virtually deserted corner of the Pyrenees. We often
see wild boar, many birds of prey soaring above us and we'll
look down on the Griffon Vultures in their nests in the Biniés
Gorge.
The Biniés Gorge is
a majestic landscape of high cliffs carved out by the River
Veral. At the end of the gorge lies the village of the same
name with its traditional houses and castle dominating the
entrance to the valley.
DAY 7 The Camino from La Virgen de La Peña to Escó B L D
The final walk of the trip starts at the Ermita de La Virgen
de La Peña - a chapel dramatically perched on a cliff
edge 600m above the Escá Valley and follows a dramatic
limestone gorge out of the High Pyrenees and into the gentler
terrain of the Canal de Berdún - for millenia the main
east-west route for Celts, Romans, Moors and, of course, for
pilgrims on their way to Santiago. The last part of the walk
follows ancient walled pathways through abandoned fields to
the fascinating abandoned village of Escó. We continue
by car to the Leyre monastery to hear Gregorian chants sung
by the monks in the beautiful Romanesque monastery church.
A magical finale to the week.
Highlights:
The Hermitage of La Virgen de La Peña. Perched
on a cliff edge 650m above the Escá Valley, this chapel
is still used by the Cofradia (brotherhood) de La Virgen.
The local villages have long disputed the ownership of the
Ermita and there are stories from the middle ages of fights
and killings over ownership. These places were very important!
We walk the Sigües Gorge
along the old path a few hundred metres above the river. There
are many vulture nests, huge stands of box trees, high cliffs
and gorgeous vistas over the valley.
Perhaps the most authentic, untouched part of the Camino. On the last part of the walk it is easy to imagine that you are back in the middle ages as there is nothing to suggest the 21st Century. Ancient walled tracks through farmland take us on a gentle route to the abandoned village of Escó which is a mysterious and fascinating relic of preindustral Spain.
Gregorian Chants at The Leyre Monastery.
Leyre is one of the most important monasteries of Northern
Spain and has a Romanesque church with a stunning doorway
and a unique Crypt dating from the 9th Century. Each evening
the monks practice Gregorian chants/plainsong in the church
and it is a moving experience to hear sacred music which has
been sung here since the Camino de Santiago was first trodden
by pilgrims in the 11th Century.
DAY 8 Transfer
B
Transfer to Biarritz Airport for those that require it.
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