Sam Vicente de la Barquera to Cades

The Camino Lebaniego is a special route in Spain that by itself does not lead to Santiago de Compostela. Instead, it is a three to four-day walk from the northern coast of Spain to the Monastery of Santo Toribio, where, according to legend (and the Catholic Church), is the largest surviving fragment of the “lignum crucis” or “wood of the cross.” Yes, that cross. How Constantine’s mother discovered Jesus’ cross as well as the ones of the two thieves, some 300 years after the crucifixion, is a story I haven’t studied, but this piece of the left arm of the Holy Cross has been in Spain since the 8th century.

I read this interesting history on the cross: “When it arrived in Cantabria in the Middle Ages from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, brought by Saint Turibius of Astorga, it was the entire left arm of the cross, but splinter by splinter it was whittled away until it resembled a walking stick well on its way to becoming a chopstick.

In 1679, the monks cut what remained into two pieces and encased them in a gilded silver cruciform reliquary. The longer, vertical piece is exposed near its base, revealing the hole where the nail was hammered through Christ’s wrist.

The wood is Mediterranean cypress, which was and is common in the Holy Land, and carbon dating shows the tree from which it came grew 2,000-odd years ago. Science puts it in the right place at the right time, while faith verifies its bona fides for believers."

The monastery, where Bonnie and I are walking to, is considered by Catholics to be one of the most holy places, along with Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela. I’m surprised this route isn’t more popular. It is mostly the Spanish people who make this pilgrimage.

We didn’t choose this route because of the relic, although we are excited to visit the monastery, get our certificate, and see the Lebaniego Cross. We actually were looking to find a way from the Norte Camino down to the Frances route, and this fit the bill.

Finding information about this route has been a challenge. Of the three phone apps that we have used on all of our Camino trips, none of them cover the Lebaniego or the Vadiniense route, which continues the path down to the Frances from the monastery. So we are using a Spanish website and app that we have to translate into English. We’ve also used YouTube to see what other pilgrims have experienced on this route.

What we are most excited about is that this Camino takes us up and over the “Picos de Europa,” a mountain range in northern Spain with the second most visited national park in the country.

So this morning we said goodbye to the ocean and hello to the mountains! We will climb over a mile of elevation in the next five days. We will then take a day off from walking the Camino to ride a cable car to some of the peaks in the national park and then hike back down. Yes, that means we are hiking on our day off. Imagine that.

Today’s walk was spectacular, first giving us views of the coastal town we had just left, then up through farms with produce and livestock, including an emu who wanted to eat me. We then walked along a river for miles and miles before finally getting deposited at our first albergue on this route. We are staying with other crazy pilgrims making this journey, sleeping in an attic full of bunk beds, eating the local chickpea stew, salad, and rice pudding at a community meal, and feeling extremely grateful for this incredible opportunity.

Ultreia et Suseia!もっと詳しく