The Big Walk

Sahagun and the Moors – Day 22

The stars outside the tent last night were amazing. There were no lights within sight, no hills to block the view, just an enormous half sphere of sky with more and brighter stars than I’ve ever known. The walking is less inspiring, continuing endlessly on a ruler-straight purpose built cycle track, across a frying pan of a landscape. Trees have been planted along one side but it will be years before they are big enough to provide shade. The fields here are enormous and have no hedges; presumably because water is so scarce, and there are huge tractors harvesting the wheat before transporting it into the huge silos that dominate the villages. No working the land by hand here.

We reach Sahagún just as the heat becomes more intense, and head into the refugio which is built in the loft of a church – perfect for collecting the heat rising from below, trapping it beneath the tiled roof. After lunch and a quick siesta, we venture out into a furnace. We explore the town by dashing from one shaded area to another, whilst in the plaza a temperature gauge reads 40⁰C. This was once an important pilgrim town but is much decayed from its heyday. Today most of the houses are modern and only a huge arch remains of the great monastery that once stood here. There are a couple of fascinating churches though, San Tirso and San Lorenzo. These were built in the twelfth century by Moors descended from Christian Mozarabic monks who fled here from persecution in Cordoba, seeking refuge in the monastery. Beautifully constructed in red brickwork with relief panels and corbelling, these are the only examples of the Mudejar style on the whole length of the camino. Everywhere are horseshoe shaped arches, a distinctive feature of Moorish architecture. We finish the day with a beer sitting under the arcade on the plaza, watching the kids playing in the street. I’m still sweating even just sitting here.