Day 53 Wed 14 May
Not many pilgrims visit or stop at Samos so we had a pilgrim free day, which added to the delight of an undulating dirt path sometimes through farms, sometimes through chestnut forest. About 14 kilometers to Sarria. This is an important historical stop on the Camino and the place many pilgrims start in order to qualify for a Compostela (an official certificate for walking at least 100 kilometers to Santiago). Last year, 2013, more than 215,000 Compostelas were issued!
Isolated Romanesque chapel, no houses, no village
Today's path through chestnut forest
All that remains of the mill
Slate roofed chapel
Strange stone figure in the forest
Water for pilgrims on The Way
Up the steps to old Sarria
San Salvador, 11th century church in Sarria
Detail above the door of San Salvador
Remains of Sarria's medieval castle
Gothic chapel of Monastery Magdalena
Above the door to Monastery Magdalena
Boundary cross in Sarria
Mosaic in the street
Chapel of San Lázaro, once a medieval pilgrim's albergue
House of tapas in Sarria
Day 54 Thu 15 May
We knew that on average more than 400 pilgrims leave Sarria every day of the year, but to be two of them was quite frightening for a while. We soon hit a stiff hill and the loud excited babel of half a dozen different languages became silent. With a bit of judicious pacing it was still possible to have some peaceful walking and we enjoyed the thick fog, eventually the scenery, the different surfaces and the farms and forests on the 22 kilometers to Portomarín.
Portomarín was originally built next to a Roman bridge over the Minho River in the Middle Ages. In the 1960s the river was dammed putting the old village under water. The most historic buildings were moved brick by brick and reconstructed in the new town.
Pilgrims leaving Sarria appear like ghosts in the fog
Roman bridge used for centuries is just out of Sarria
Cobwebs wet with fog
The Way in fog
The Way avoids a stream
Stepping stones - feet never wet
Herreo (old grain store) - every farm has one
Santa María at Ferreiros, Romanesque
Door of Santa María
Jeff on the path to Portomarín
100 kilometers to Santiago marker
Old pilgrim's resting place
Cross covered in old clothes, no idea why
Every house of stone in this tiny village
Portomarín reflected in the dam waters, moved in 1963 when the river was damed
The old bridge across the river was moved to the entrance of Portomarín
Church & fort San Nicolas dominates Portomarín
San Nicholas, church & fort, 12th century moved before the old town was flooded in 1963
Door of San Nicolas, Romanesque
Side door of San Nicolas
San Pedro, also moved before the 1963 flooding
Arched main street of the new village of Portomarín