melaniehyersDay 2 from Paladín to Cornellana 20km– Monasterio San Salvador
A 20km booty-kicker day!
Up, up, up, to turn around and go down, down, down… There were moments, especially when the sun began heating up the landscape, that my thoughts rolled into the mental playground of negativity and I questioned my motives, “why is it that I want to do this 325km hike?”
And like the call and response of a Sunday sermon suddenly, the chirping laughter of all species of birds would pierce my dark inner thoughts and wake me to the present moment. I’d leave my negative mental playground and open my eyes to the amazing gorgeousness of my surroundings.
My ears tuned into the distant sound of cowbells gently ringing as languorous ruminants reached for another bite of dark green grass, or the baying of the sheep, the barking of a dog.
The landscape– magical–fit for the fantastical creatures fairy world.
The last 5km and my feet were throbbing! Reprieve would come once we reached the Monasterio San Salvador, the “Savior”, truer words were never spoken!
However, we still had our work cut out for us, the next 5km were the most torturous of the day, and we went into them tired and hot and ready to rest.
A steep descent challenged my already swollen knees. Thank goodness, despite the heat and my resistance to wearing the restrictive bands, I talked myself into putting on knee braces which saved me in the end!
Camino angel: a man working at a fruteria gifted us three bananas as we were walking by— the Camino is generous.
The Monastery San Salvador de Cornellana:
What a sight, for sore eyes and for our sore bodies! I was transported back in time to monks in robes, knights and lords, ladies and nobles, peasants and a deeply engrained feudal system— oh, and, the Crusades.
San Salvador de Castellana dates back to the year 1024. It was built in the Romanesque style, the first architectural style of the Middle Ages; semi-circular arches, robust pillars featuring a capital decorated with animals or vines and fruits, large towers, sturdy thick walls, simple and symmetrical in design.
On the arch above the entrance there is a carving of an animal. For some, the carving is that of a bear and thus the name of the door is Puerta del Oso. This comes from the story of the infanta Christina, daughter of the King of León who was lost in the forest. She survived, according to legend, because a mama bear took her under her care and fed the child with her own milk. When the princess became an adult, she founded the monastery and paid homage to her adoptive “mother” by putting the figure of a bear on the main door of the monastery.
However, there are others who think there is a more Christian theme, that of a lion. The animal appears to be eating a person which others believe represents the Christ devouring the sins of man and then regurgitating him into a state of forgiveness.
We shuffled our weary bodies through the Puerta del Oso…Lion? and into the courtyard of the monastery. Time to take refuge, for the night, from our own adventure in the ‘wilderness.’
