Camino del Cid

San Esteban de Gormaz to Burgo de Osma

Senderos Exile

Saturday 01 October 2022

Distance: 17.8 km Time: 4:00 Ascent: 140m Descent: 110m – Wikiloc

We walked this stage in 2019 but in the opposite direction. It’s a lovely walk and we were keen to do it again. Click here.

Mist rising on the Duero River as we leave San Esteban de Gormaz
The mill from 1784 is now a museum; the trees are 100 years old

Alcubilla del Marqués (pop 27) is a small town under a peculiar conical hill where there was a Muslim fortification.

El Cantar de Mio Cid: “He rode past Alcubilla, right on the borders of Castile”. Alcubilla del Marqués was the end of Castile in those times (but Castilian influence extended much further south).

Alcubilla del Marqués marked the limit of Castile in the time of El Cid
Typical small vineyard – house on a hill with vines on the slope below

El Burgo de Osma (pop 3,500) dates back to the Roman city of Uxama. In the 8th century. The Arabs took the city which for the next 300 years alternated between Christian and Muslim control. It is a beautiful city of glorious streets, stately homes and religious buildings.

The path to El Burgo de Osma guarded by Osma Castle
Osma Castle, 10th century, partly made from recycled Roman pieces
Uxama Watchtower, 10th century Islamic, on the opposite hill
Part of a network of towers used to control the Duero border
Walking below the 50m high cliffs, the Abion River leads us to El Burgo de Osma
Passing the 18th century Church of Santa Christina
To enter via the San Miguel Gate in the remaining walls
And along a typical arcaded street
Jeff admiring the Cathedral
Building of the Gothic style church started in 1232, and was completed in 1784
Calle Major connects the medieval Cathedral Plaza and the Town Plaza
It’s lined with shops and bars and on the weekends packed with people
Torreznos, a speciality of the Soria region, are marinated bacon strips fried in a special way to get as crispy a crust as possible: “good at any time and a star of sorianos lunches”