Camino Day Twenty- Calzadilla de los Cueda to Sahagun (14.1 Miles)- The Half Way Point

We were able to start in the early morning before the sunrise. The sun is actually rising later and later- it is fall, after all! It’s good to get that first hour and 3 miles done by 8:30!

We took an alternate route today. If you went right, the Way followed along by the main road, We turned left and walked through the fields. On that route we walked through four towns and only one had a church open; the town of Moratinos. The special statue in the church was a carved statue of Saint Rogue, also known as Saint Roch. The 14th century saint was a noble from France who became the patron Saint of the sick . After his parents died he gave away his fortune and became a pilgrim to help those suffering from the plague in Italy. He contracted the plague himself and was nursed back to health by a hunting dog, who found Rogue in the forest, and licked the man’s open sores to heal him. His iconography is of a man with a staff and an open sore on his leg, with a dog by his side.

After we checked into our hostal in Sahagun, and had our refreshing showers, we put our sandals on (NO SHOES!) and set out to see the churches in this town. None were open, but they were massive and beautiful, made of red brick in the Romanesque-Mudejar (Islamic) architectural style. This reflects the three cultural influences prevalent in this town from it’s inception: Christian, Jewish and Islamic.

We attended a Pilgrim’s Mass and received a Pilgrim’s blessing with other pilgrims who are in town with us tonight.

It was a good day.

We are past the half point of the Camino Frances.