Mystery of the Abbey

On the way to Larrasoaña I passed by this old abbey. There was a sign on the road inviting pilgrims to go in and get a 'very nice stamp' (we collect stamps every day to get a compostela when we get to Santiago).

When I arrived, the abbey was closed and there was no one around. Then another walker arrived, as I was starting to leave. Then a man came from a house next to the abbey and waved at us. He spoke very little Spanish - he was British. He told us the whole story of how he ended up there, doing some archeological work to solve the mystery of the origins of the abbey. There are no records of when it was built. Official records say in the 1600s, which is when the 2 villages next to it were also built. But they found things inside which indicate it was already there in the 1300s, but they still can't explain how or why.
It has elements of Judaism, Catholicism and Paganism. He showed us some of those intriguing features and it was fascinating to hear.
His name is Neil, and hopes to find someone to continue the investigation because he doesn't think he will see the end of it. He's fighting cancer without chemo.

We spent like half an hour there, then another group of walkers arrived and we (the other lone walker and I) moved on. He was a young guy from Romania and we walked together the rest of the way to Larrasoaña.Read more