|
Colin Jones and Paddy Barr
(published in the Confraternity of Saint James
Bulletin, nº 77, march 2002)
In the spring of 1624 three pilgrims left their tiny village near Cuenca and set out for Santiago. They were Francisco Patiño, his wife María de Franchis and Francisco´s cousin Sebastián de la Huerta. Their motive for going to the tomb of the apostle was very personal; they wished to give thanks to God for a miraculous escape from a fire that engulfed their home the previous
year. That they were alive, Francisco believed, was due to the miraculous intervention of Santiago
himself. Midday of 22 April they arrived at the Cathedral of Santiago. Their route had taken near Monteagudo as well as Santo Domingo de Silos before they joined the Camino Francés at Burgos. That we know of their
pilgrimage, its motives and their itinerary is because these were recorded both by Francisco´s
employer, the Duke of Modena, and by the ecclesiastical authorities at Santiago
cathedral. On 2 May this little family group left the cathedral to return to their
village, a distance of some 500 miles.
This pilgrimage must have been typical of many that were undertaken throughout the
centuries. Like many other pilgrimages, their journey and the offical records could have been forgotten had it not been for the hard
work, research and imagination of the Association of the Friends of the Camino to Santiago in Cuenca. Their research into the routes taken by pilgrims through their province eventually led them to this small family
group. As in a good detective story, bits of information began to come together to create this snapshot of Jacobean
history. From these humble beginnings it wasn´t long before the idea emerged of retracing Francisco Patiño´s route through the lands of Cuenca, Guadalajara and Soria to Burgos. A small
guidebook, which was the fruit of this reconstuction, has now been
published, but it is only in Spanish. It is packed with explicit
directions, historical notes and practical information. It was enough to tempt me and Paddy to follow in the footsteps of Francisco and his
family.
At the Cathedral office of Cuenca we met the author of our soon to become indispensable
guide-book and Vicente Malabia took us through some of the changes that had taken place during the 2 years since the book´s
publication. He also emphasised that the route had deliberately not been marked with yellow
arrows. Partly he said, because pilgrims of past centuries did not have the benefit of them and partly because it meant that we would hay to pay close attention to the
book, the country and, if in need, ask for help. How true all this proved to be!.
From Cuenca, Paddy and I passed through areas that once supported vast numbers of
sheep, hence the name La Ruta de la Lana, but today it is given over to field upon fields of
sunflowers. Always heading north, we passed through many tiny villages typical of Old
Castille. Some were, in effect, summer residences for families from Madrid, others were working farming
villages. Of course, obtaining a stamp for our "credentials" required a certain amount of detective
work, finding out whether a priest actually lived in the village we happened to be in, or whether there was a town hall, or even a bar!. Yet it was always possible to see the traces of past
pilgrimages. A tiny wayside shrine to San Roque, a chapel dedicated to Santiago, a centuries old hospital, or
St. James´s scallop shell carved into the wall of a church.
Wherever we went we were greeted by genuine interest and support, once people realised that we were on pilgrimage to Santiago and not following the tourist route of El Cid. The most generous hospitality was awaiting us in a tiny pueblo near the borders of the provinces of Soria and Burgos. On leaving Cuenca it had been stressed that when we arrived at the village of Tarancueña we were to seek aut the house of Inocente García de Andrés.
Here, we were assured, we would be offered a fulsome welcome and a good night´s rest in his
house. This was heavily underlined in my guidebook, just to make sure I got the
message. A threatening sky and the rumble of thunder overcame any inhibitions that we might have had of imposing ourselves on a complete stranger when we arrived at the
village. Sadly, we were informed, that Don Inocente was not in the village - he had gone to Madrid only the day before - but as we stood somewhat bedraggled debating what to do
next, Don Inocente´s brother slowly strolled un to us to say that perhaps we could stay with
him!. That evening we were treated to many stories of the village and of the
pilgrims, both ancient and modern who had passed through the village.
Further north, the route winds it way through the spectacular Caracena Canyon where vultures sit sentinel until the air currents are strong enough to support their flight in search of
food. Some days later, after following a narrow trail through pine
forests, we stood overlooking the principal reason why pilgrims tradicionally had followed this route before going on to Burgos - we arrived at the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos. Here the celebrated cloisters contain the famous representation of the Risen Christ on the road to
Emmaus, waring the insignia of a pilgrim to Santiago. Moreover, the ties with the Camino are not just in
stone. The monastery, which is a palce of prayer expressed to beatifully through the melodies of Gregorian
plainsong, now also finds its place on the Camino at Rabanal, where a small group of monks originally from the Silos
Monastery, have set up a small house of prayer.
After Silos it is just a couple of days walk into Burgos. From that pivotal city it was possible to sum up our
experience. The Ruta de la Lana is hard, but not because the terrain is particulary difficult rather because there can be long distances between
villages. It is however, a beautiful route with many contrasts of geography and
history.
From Burgos the real contrast between La Ruta de la Lana and the Camino Francés becomes
obvious. Suddenly we were joining a constant stream of pilgrims along the Camino Francés. Following the Wool Route had required us to pay attention to our
surroundings; to our guide-book and to advice we received from local
people. It also meant being very aware of the route we were following. The lack of yellows arrows kept us
alert. While we met no other pilgrims with whom we could share our stories and experiences there was a deep sense of focusing on our own reasons for being
pilgrims.
|
