Home ·

Article translated by an automatic translation system. Press here for further information.

Stage 20

San Martin del Camino to Astorga

km 24,2

Time 05H 30’

Difficulty Medium

Hostels 14

Available without an Internet connection

Stage that requires a "crushing rhythm" until reaching Puente Órbigo

Information about the stage 20: San Martin del Camino to Astorga

Enlarge map

Points of interest in the stage 20: San Martin del Camino to Astorga

5 Albergue de peregrinos Siervas de María
4 Albergue de Peregrinos San Javier
3 Albergue Santa Ana
2 Albergue de San Martín del Camino
1 Albergue Vieira

The route

Km 0. San Martin del Camino (Hostels. Bars. Store)

We traversed San Martin del Camino next to the N-120 and, after the Páramo canal and the cartel de fin de población, we turned right and immediately left to take the long-grain walker that advances parallel to the national road. Maize crops and small plant extensions flood the fields to our right, irrigated by a good network of canals and canals. At three kilometers we pass the diversion to Santa Marina del Rey and Villavante (Km 3). Later on the Camino meets the canal of the Cerrajera dam, a stream of irrigation of the Orbigo that departs from this river in Villanueva de Carrizo to converge in Cebrones del río. His first news dates back to the 14th century (Km 4.2).

A couple of kilometers later we walked away from the N-120 on the right and passed by a nice brick water reservoir. We soon cross the provincial road in Puente de Órbigo (Km 6,9) next to the church of Santa Maria, whose spaghetti usually withstands more than one stork nest.

Km 6.9. Orbigo Bridge (Bar)

Immediately the Orbigo River, which flows under the prolonged bridge of the Honroso Passo, stands in front of us, where Quiñones Serum challenged in 1434 every gentleman seeking to cross it. A few centuries later, in the spring of 2012, its LED lighting system was inaugurated, which you can see later in the day. A technology that fills the stone with color and will leave no one indifferent. We cross the Passo, without fear of broken horses or lost spears, to access Hospital de Órbigo, where we receive the church of St. John the Baptist, of the 18th century.

Km 7.7. Orbigo Hospital (All Services)

From the center of Hospital de Órbigo we progress through the same main street to the exit, where a signal nailed in a pole shows the two possibilities to undertake the rest of the stage (Km 8). From the front continues the historical trace by an andadero parallel to the N-120; on the right, an option highly valued by the pilgrims, the Camino moves towards Villares de Órbigo and Santibáñez de Valdeiglesias for an agricultural and low-mountain landscape. Both options come together on the Santo Toribio cruise.

A matter of taste. We reported the second option. We turn right onto a runway surrounded by an extremely agricultural landscape. Countless acequias bathe vegetable crops, which are tasted throughout León and even in neighbouring provinces. So we got to Villares de Órbigo.

Km 10. Villares de Órbigo (Hostel. Bar. Store. Pharmacy)

On the outskirts of Villares de Órbigo we crossed a local road and took a road next to a seen brick hall. We went by a meadow and climbed slightly down the hill. If we look to the left we find a general plan of the fertile Orbigo river plain, with its choperas, canals and crops. Recreated in this view we reach a local road (Km 11.5) that leads to the nearby town of Santibáñez de Valdeiglesias.

Km 12.6. Santibáñez de Valdeiglesias (Hostels. Bar-Cafeteria)

We enter Camino de Villares Street, continue down Calle Real and turn right onto Carromonte Bajo, where the parish hostel is located. The street ends and we leave Santibáñez on a wide, quite stony track as well, next to some livestock vessels. For this reason, among small plots of vine that spill the rest of the crops, we gain thirty meters of height until we reach a cross labeled by a number of figures, including a scarecrow (Km 13,8).

We go down for about seven hundred meters, leaving on the left a small canyon created by erosion, and then we go up a more refugee area between quejigos and chaparros. Then there are several slides for the uncomfortable stony track: a quick descent results in a short climb and another downhill, slightly longer, is answered by a rise of the same characteristics that ends up leaving us with painful legs. So we got to a plateau and we left a ship to the right. It is the House of the Gods, ruled by Kevin Leal located in the place known as Majada de Ventura (Km 17,5).

Soon we cross a road and a long line leads us to the cruise of Santo Toribio, where some tables invite a snack in this excellent viewpoint over San Justo de la Vega, the city of Astorga and Monte Teleno, which with its 2,188 meters is the highest summit of the mountains of León. In this same place, in the fifth century, the bishop of Astorga, after being expelled from his headquarters, said: "De Astorga, no dust" (Km 19.1). We descend from the cruise to enter San Justo de la Vega.

Km 20.3. San Justo de la Vega (Hostel. Bars. Store. Pharmacy)

On the outskirts we saved the Tuerto River by a metal walkway parallel to the stone bridge. A few meters later we left the walk and took a track that advances next to a nave. The runway flows into the Jerga River, which we draw through a small bridge. Turn left and approach to the metal walkway that saves the tracks of the Palencia - La Coruña line (Km 23).

The bridge is a mareant maze of uprights and heights. We passed the dismantled via Plasencia - Astorga and after the roundabout decorated with the Roman name of Astorga: Asturica Augusta, we climbed to Perpea Socorro Street, where we turned left. Then, a hard hill brings us closer to the hostel of the Friends of the Camino and the complex formed by the chapel of the Vera Cruz and the church of the Redemptorist Fathers. From this point there are only three hundred meters left to reach the City Hall.

Km 24.2. Astorga (All Services)

The difficulties

Remarks

In images

What to see, what to do

ORBIGO BRIDGE AND HOSPITAL DE ÓRBIGO:The
endless bridge over the Orbigo River, which premiered its colorful LED lighting in 2012, unites the two populations. It was built in the 14th century although remodeled in later centuries and is famous for the following historical event: In 1434, the Leonese gentleman Don Wheero de Quiñones organized a weapons tournament by challenging every gentleman who wanted to cross the bridge, to break three spears against him and his nine companions. All to conquer his lady Leonor Tovar. 727 races were run and 166 spears were broken for a month, with the exception of July 25, the festivity of Santiago Apostle. At the end of the tournament, only one of his followers died, they went on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela where Salero de Quiñones handed the apostle a blue ribbon that belonged to his lady. Don Serum, 24 years later, would die in another tournament against one of the knights who had defeated in the Orbigo Honourable Passo.
The Órbigo River is born from the confluence of the Luna and Omaña rivers and flows into the Esla. Its waters contain a good population of Common Trout or Fario Trout (Salmo trutta fario), the main ingredient of the beloved soups that are prepared in Hospital de Órbigo. This town, on the other side of the bridge, stood by the hospital of the Knights of San Juan. The church of St. John the Baptist, which collected the legacy of the hospital, is from the 18th century and retains a plateresque altarpiece. Hospital de Órbigo is today a large service center and there are several shops, bakery, ATM, a few mesons and road restaurants.
VILLARES DE ÓRBIGO AND SANTIBÁÑEZ DE VALDEIGLESIAS:In
Villares de Órbigo is located the City Hall, whose municipality includes Villares de Órbigo, Moral de Órbigo, San Feliz de Órbigo, Santibáñez de Valdeiglesias and Valdeiglesias. During the Middle Ages they were a manor owned by the Quiñones family and Astorga's clauses. The municipality sits on the fertile bank of the Orbigo and is surrounded by countless acequias that bathe vegetable crops, tasting throughout León and even in neighboring provinces.
- The church of Santiago de Villares de Órbigo keeps a wood carving of the Virgen del Carmen and a valuable cashier in chestnut and oak wood. The parish of Santibáñez de Valdeiglesias is from the 19th century.
ASTORGA:Located
on a hill between the rivers Jerga and Tuerto, Astorga, the Asturica Augusta of the Romans, was originally a military camp built during the campaign of the Cantabrian wars in the years 29 to 19 BC. Due to the presence of gold mines in the same province, called Conventus Asturum, the city was growing, driven by the excellent location that allowed for great control over the exploitation of mines.
- Cathedral of Santa Maria: It began to be built in the last third of the 15th century and was not finished until the second half of the 17th century. The western facade is Plateresque style and the chapels and the sacristy door are attributed to Gil de Hontañón.
- City Hall of Astorga: It was built in 1675 based on the design of Manuel de la Lastra and was remodeled at the end of the 19th and in 1995. The watch of the facade is the work of Bartolomé Fernández and has as peculiarity that two Maragatos automata - Juan Zancuda and Colasa - re-itch the bell to give the hours.
- Episcopal Palace: Today it houses the Museum of Roads, where you can visit a vast collection of sacred art. The building, worked shows that combines medieval and modernist styles, is the work of Antonio Gaudí.
- Walls: The original walled enclosure was built in the Roman era, between the end of the third century and the beginning of the fourth century, but it has been very modified, especially in the ninth century and at different later times.
Astorga is a city of almost 12,000 inhabitants where there are all kinds of services. You can taste the cooked maragate, peculiar because the meat is served first, then the vegetables and finally the soup. Nor must we fail to test the famous mantecadas and puff pastry of the Maragata capital.