sponsored travel brittany-ferries-to-santander 7881839 ----- # The Camino from Burgos to Len in Northern Spain via Santander ## On the second day of his return trip to Northern Spain, Derek Bishton takes the Camino from Burgos to Leon. Derek Bishton 4:00PM BST 09 Jul 2010 **_Day Two: Burgos to Leon_** ![Burgos Cathedral, Santander (Northern Spain)][1] Burgos Cathedral, Santander (Northern Spain) The cathedral of Burgos dominates the city skyline. Early in the morning we climbed the hill that overlooks the intricate roofline. It's the best place to appreciate the filigree turrets and towers, which I think look like something a medieval precursor of Antoni Gaudi dreamt up after a hard night on the bottle. The graceful aesthetic of the French gothic style has been given a proto- surreal Spanish makeover.The first stone of the present cathedral was laid in 1221 and work continued on it for another 400 years. Almost every great master builder, sculptor, artist and craftsman of the middle ages and later had a hand in creating it. The sheer quantity of decorative friezes, sculptures and carvings, the overwhelming ornamentation, both inside and out, would take weeks to appreciate fully. The impact on a medieval pilgrim who had been wandering across the remote hills must have been stupendous. ## Related Articles * [Camino part 3: Len to Santiago][2] 09 Jul 2010 * [Camino part 1: Leaving Pamplona][3] 09 Jul 2010 * [Derek Bishton's Camino][4] 14 Jul 2010 But some people find the cathedral of Burgos a difficult place to like. The legendary travel writer Jan Morris said that it "remains in your memory not as a joy, nor even an inspiration, but as an iron glower in the mind". For me, too, there is something slightly sinister and disturbing in such an overwhelming architectural statement. Burgos, with the scores of monasteries, convents, pilgrim hospitals, churches and chapels that surround the cathedral, is where the Camino starts to flaunt its power and riches. I get the same uneasy feeling when I look out at the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf from my apartment in the East End of London. **Battle for hearts and minds ** One artefact from the thousands on display encapsulates my disquiet -- the 16th-century statue of St James as Santiago Matamoros, the Moor-slayer. The transformation of the humble fisherman disciple into a bloodthirsty action hero, crushing the infidel Muslims underfoot, reveals in a flash the main driving force behind the creation of the Camino in the first place. In the 10th and 11th centuries, this route marked the front line in the battle to define Europe's soul. The Moorish empire had spread across Spain and into France. On all fronts, Islam threatened the very existence of Christianity. The pilgrims that St James drew along the Camino to Santiago formed a vital economic and human barrier in the battle for hearts and minds. I can't help but feel uneasy at the way the simple, blind faith of millions of people was channelled into a religious and ideological struggle that still continues to haunt us all today. El Cid, the city's most famous son, has been claimed for the Christians and his remains now rest in the cathedral. But in reality he was a mercenary, fighting for both sides, and he led the Moors to a famous victory in Logroño where he burnt the old town to the ground. History is so much more fluid than we realise. Ultimately, Burgos is just too big and too brash: we needed to get back to the simple business of the walk. I recalled the relief I felt when I left the city and started into the isolated countryside beyond. I wanted the film crew to capture something of that. Outside the town of Castrojeriz, we waited in the warm heat of the early afternoon to film some pilgrims making a slow ascent on the path as it trailed away into the far distance. Then Andy and Chris, the video team, filmed me nattering away about the joys of walking in the countryside. What followed was one of those serendipitous moments in which the Camino seems to specialise. Just over a mile out of town, Rick, the photographer who was co-piloting the Bentley, realised we were going the wrong way. We turned round and as we passed our starting point, there was a woman - obviously a pilgrim with her walking poles and rucksack - limping along the side of the road, trying to thumb a lift. That's how Ilde became one of the stars of our video. We packed her in the car and set off for Fromista, where she could take a day to recover and wait for her friends to catch her up. **The kindness of strangers ** As we drove along, I thought about Fromista, where there is one of the most exquisite Romanesque churches you are ever likely to see. Small, simple, perfectly proportioned and built in the same year that Harold was losing it on the beaches of Hastings, it is the antidote I craved to the excesses of Burgos. When I first saw it, I felt that the Camino had come back to me on a more human scale. If I were a believer, this is the kind of church where I could contemplate praying. Ilde, who had come from Italy, was spilling the beans about life on the road, the new friendships she'd made, the camaraderie of the pilgrim hostels and the problems of aching limbs. Most important, there was the unexpected kindnesses she had received from complete strangers along the route, of which this latest rescue was another example. Chris, sensing his video was now becoming a documentary, filmed all of this and more from Ilde, cinema verite-style, as we sped along. Ah yes, the kindness: I had almost forgotten about that as I struggled to come to terms with all the architecture and its history. As we sat shaded from the sun in the pretty square that encircles my favourite little church, Ilde and I talked about kindness. I told her about Markus and Maria, the Swiss couple I had met on my Camino, and how Maria had almost single-handedly nursed my swollen ankle, proffering her magic cream. Sometimes I wouldn't see them for a couple of days and then Maria would pop out of a cafe as I limped by, anti-inflammatories in hand. We left for Leon on a high, our encounter with Ilde having brought a human dimension to our journey. [X][5] Share & bookmark Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz [What are these?][6] * Share: [Share][5] [ ][7] [ ][8] [Tweet][9] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/travel/brittany-ferries-to- santander/7881839/The-Camino-from-Burgos-to-Leon-in-Northern-Spain-via- Santander.html Telegraph ## [Brittany Ferries to Santander][10] * ### [Sponsored »][11] * ### [Travel »][12] [X][5] Share & bookmark Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz [What are these?][6] Share: * [ ][5] * [ ][7] * [ ][8] * [Tweet][9] * ![Brittany Ferries and Santander][13] [VIDEOS: PILGRIMS' ROUTE »][14] ### [Travelling in class to Santander][15] [![Brittany Ferries to Santander introduction video: Derek Bishton's Camino][16] ][15] Derek Bishton heads to Santander with Brittany Ferries as he returns to Northern Spain to take another Camino to Santiago de Compostela. ### [Retracing the Camino: day one][17] ### [Retracing the Camino: day two][18] ### [Retracing the Camino: day three][19] [Derek Bishton's Blog »][20] ### [Blog: Santiago or Bust][20] [![Derek Bishton's blog: Santiago or Bust][21]][20] Read Derek Bishton's blog as he takes his Camino across Northern Europe to Santiago de Compostela. [Picture gallery »][22] ### [Derek Bishton's Camino][4] [![View of Burgos, including Cathedral, Northern Spain][23]][4] Great photographs from Santander to Santiago de Compostella in Spain. [Picture Galleries »][24] ### [The Picos de Europa][25] [![Potes][26]][25] Beautiful mountains, countryside and historic cities. ### [Spain's north coast][27] [![Frejulfe Beach, Asturias][28]][27] Magical coastlines, culture, and delicious seafood. [Picos and further afield »][29] ### [Stunning Picos][30] [![The market town of Potes with the Picos de Europa in the background][31] ][30] Between the two main pilgrims' routes in Northern Spain lies a dramatic area of outstanding beauty. ### [Eastern promises][32] [![Aragon, Spain][33] ][32] A leisurely drive from Santander are the delights of Aragon, Navarra and even France. 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