The trek into Astorga had its pluses and minuses. The plus was that the landscape changed and we had more rolling hills and open spaces... The minuses was that it was 20 miles with a lot of upward climb towards the city. We did see some wonderful things. Here they are:
This bridge in Orbigo was the site of one of the last significant jousting contests in the 15th century. Here is the story: "The Paso Honroso Stand on the bridge and look south through the grove of poplars along the river. If you look closely, you can see colored pennants waving, and you can hear on the evening breeze the whinny of horses and the laughter of knights and their ladies. In 1434 the Leonese knight Suero de Quiñones held forth on this bridge against all comers in what may have been Europe’s last true medieval tournament. Suero, scorned by his lady, wore an iron collar around his neck as a sign that he considered himself bound to her. When that failed to impress her, he resolved to challenge the best lances of Europe to meet him on the Órbigo Bridge. Suero went to King Juan II at Medina del Campo, where he secured the King’s permission. In fact, the King had his herald ride through the kingdom reading out Suero’s 22 conditions of challenge. The word spread like wildfire through a European nobility sated with the messy intricacies of court politics and gruesome dynastic wars and yearning for the simpler world they read about in Amadís de Gaula and their other books of chivalry. That fictitious world was a place in which a single knight, by the force of his personality and sword, could prove the virtue of his cause though the whole world be arrayed against him. The wooden lists were constructed in what is now the grove alongside the bridge: 146 paces long, with a palisade and spectator galleries. 1434 was a Jacobean Holy Year, so in addition to the contestants, their retinues, royalty, and the merely curious, the Órbigo road also thronged with pilgrims. Suero had the sculptor Nicolás Frances make him a life-size mannequin, sumptuously dressed like a herald, to set beside the pilgrimage Road with a sign pointing the way to the lists. The jousting began 2 weeks before St. James’s Day, the moment of maximum traffic along the Road. Colorful battle tents were pitched everywhere; pennants fluttered in the breeze. The air rang with the shouts of squires and the clang of steel as the knights rehearsed for the upcoming contests. At dawn on July 11, 1434, the longed-for tournament began. Musicians blared out the fanfare, church bells rang, and the assembled knights and their retinues marched to the village church for mass. The jousting went on for several weeks, and after each day’s contests the knights banqueted on the riverbank. Musicians played, and the knights and ladies danced in the flickering torchlight. On July 15 Suero was pitted against a Catalán challenger who, respecting Suero’s reputation, dressed in a double thickness of steel. To mock him, Suero appeared in only light armor covered with a woman’s blouse. The enraged, heavily encumbered Catalán was no match for the prancing Suero until a lucky blow to Suero’s head knocked him from his horse. The crowd gasped. But a moment later Suero danced up, crying, “It is nothing.” On July 20 Suero and his close companions stood off 9 knights of Gutierre de Quijada, who had stopped at the tournament on their way to Compostela. Gutierre, his knights beaten, rode off swearing vengeance. On the last day of the tourney, August 9, a final great procession was held. Suero appeared and proclaimed that since he had proved his fealty to his secret lady by wearing the iron band and by breaking 300 lances at the jousts, he was now free. With that he removed the iron band and presented it to the judges. The crowd roared its approval. From the bridge Suero led a procession all the way back to León, where he vowed—now that he was free—to journey to Compostela as a pilgrim. This he did, and when he reached the cathedral, he deposited a jewel-encrusted golden bracelet as token of his release from the prison of love. You will see the bracelet in Compostela around the neck of the image of Santiago Alfeo in the cathedral museum."
View of Astorga from the final hill
The descent into the city. It was a little rough on the legs especially where we are still about three miles out and have just trekked 17 miles.
After arriving we rested and then visited a couple of landmarks.
This is the Palacio Episcopal in Astorga that was designed by Antoni Gaudi (the same who designed the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona)
This is the private chapel
And my favorite, the library/study
We also visited the Cathedral with its beautiful Renaissance altarpiece
