View of the sunrise from my room.
My room is the one with the balcony above the front door.
Nice stamp for my Credencial.
The irrigation system is very clever. It’s gravity fed. Here the sluice gate is closed; it can be raised when needed, to irrigate the fields next to it.
The distinctive water tower near Hospital de Orbigo.
The famous medieval bridge.
I crossed the bridge and went into my hotel on the other side. There is a really nice terrace where I had a coffee and watched groups of pilgrims arriving:
Kindergarten kids in two gypsy caravans going around the town: very excited, singing and waving.
History of the bridge and the tournament (from Wikipedia):
Tournament of 1434
In 1434, the Leonese knight Suero de Quiñones held a tournament in which he or one of his companions challenged all men of equal rank who wished to cross the bridge here to a jousting tournament, Suero holding this bridge in the name of unrequited love. By 1434 the skill of jousting was not a standard part of military training but the challenge was taken seriously. Since 1434 was a Jacobean Holy Year, the traffic upon the Road of St James was considerable. The tournament lasted from July 11 until 9 August and Don Suero claimed to have broken 300 lances by the end. Twenty four years later Suero de Quiñones was killed by Gutierre de Quijada, a knight he had beaten at the 1434 tournament.[2]
This is one of the longest bridges on the Camino: I can’t work out why it’s so long, as only the beginning part is over water.
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