Santo Domingo de Silos to Huerta de Rey

Tuesday 27 September 2022

Distance: 20.8 km Time: 5:20 Ascent: 380m Descent: 400m – Wikiloc

It was cold, 4°C this morning but a 100 meter ascent in half a kilometer to start soon warmed us. After a while we entered a pine forest walking along sandy tracks covered with pine cones – easy of the feet and the most pleasant walking of our Camino del Cid so far.

Looking back down at Santo Domingo de Silos the Monastery seems bigger

Moreco del Santo at the top of the hill – since 1808 passers-by have kissed a rock and thrown it on this pile, reason unknown

Peñacoba (pop 39) and its lands belonged to El Cid. In 1076 he his wife, Jimena donated the village to the Silos Monastery.

The village of Peñacoba once belonged to El Cid

Peñacoba’s Church of Saint Mary dates from the 13th century

The juniper trees, some 2000 years old are among the best preserved in Europe

From here on we are walking through pine forest. Sandy path covered in pine cones, dappled shade and good waymarks make very pleasant walking

Huerta de Rey (King’s Garden, pop 673) was named for the fertility of its lands and the abundance of water, the Arandilla River as well as springs and fountains with healing properties.

Water bubbles from the ground in this fountain at the entrance to Huerta de Rey

Metal sculptures on the hillside approaching Huerta de Rey
The huertaños are nicknamed “wolves”. The vultures as liked as they clean up the dead animals preventing the spread of disease

The Arandilla River flows through Huerta de Rey

The Roman City of Clunia with probably had more than 30,000 inhabitants was one of the most important plateau cities of Roman Spain. It’s about 10 km from Huerta de Rey and we really wanted to visit the ruins. Vivi and Mayaka, the owners of Hostal Camino del Cid where we stayed were kind enough to drive us the there.
It took us about an hour and 2 kilometers to walk around the site.

This house (4th century) had floors of mosaics to catch the visitor’s attention

The theatre (1st century) was the largest in Spain & could hold 10,000 people

Vivi and Mayaka then took us to Hoz de Orillares (Sickle Caves of Orillares), a place only locals know about, 15 kilometers from Huerta. There’s a small canyon eroded by the stream to create several caves. Like La Yecla, many vultures nest on the cliffs above. It’s a two kilometer round trip walk from the car park.