Maranchón to Medinaceli is 31.5 km, too much for us. The owner of Casa Rural El Rincón de la Fuente Vieja where we stayed in Maranchón kindly gave us a ride to Layna reducing the day to 20 km on a combination of quiet dirt and bitumen roads.
Layna (pop 49) Cantar de mio Cid: “They pass the forests, which are wild and large, they crossed Campo Taranz (Layna) in such a way that they should not be scared at all“
Layna, dominated by the tower of the church of Nuestra Señora de la CabezaEasy walking from Layna on a good flat roadThere’s still life in Urex de Medinaceli (pop 9)European stonechatA large stoney plain at an altitude of over 1,000 m where no trees grow is a European nature protection area because of its uniqueness Descending from the moorland into the Arbujuelo Valley, mentioned three times in the Cantar del mio Cid. The Camino del Cid follows the Middle Ages path from Maranchón. Medinaceli visible on the hill top behind
“These views are the ones seen, after crossing Campo Taranz, by El Cid and an escort of one hundred knights on their way to neighboring Medinaceli. There wife Doña Jimena and his daughters were waiting for them to return together to Valencia, recently conquered by El Cid.”
Flowers in the valley Two monoliths of eroded rock guard the village of Arbujuelo (pop 7)The fountain at ArbujueloBroken bell on the church at Salinas is now protected by a wire cageSalt ponds at Salinas de Medinaceli since Roman times, and exploitation remained active until the end of the 20th centuryWe used the old Roman road for the steep 190m climb up to Medinaceli “Medinaceli is one of those places that travelers on the Camino del Cid cannot miss, even though the long and hard ascent requires great effort from cyclists and walkers.”Passing the Ermita del humilladero, a chapel located outside the walls at the entrance to the town. The original objective was to facilitate the religious practice of passers-byTo enter via the “Arab Gate”, not actually Arabic as its foundations are Roman
