CAMINO DE SANTIAGO - PART 4 - VILLATUERTA PUENTA - VIANA

The day after the snow was perfect. It was clear and beautiful with snow on all the surrounding mountains. I can’t describe this day much better then the photo below so I will let it do the talking.

My stop for the night was in Los Acros which I found a strange place. It may have been the slightly offbeat albergue and the fact that it was freezing cold but it wasn’t my favourite stop over. 

My highlight on the walk from Los Arcos to Viana was the 12th Century church Iglesia de Santo Sepulchro in the village of Torres Del Rio. Like the church in Eunate, it is based on the octagonal church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and linked to the Knights Templar. It was incredibly beautiful and I ended up having the church to myself for a good half hour or so. I knew the history of the Camino before I started walking but I think that sitting in that church, the enormity of the fact that people have been walking the Way for more than a thousand years finally sunk in. All those hundreds of thousands of people who had gone before us with their own reasons and joys and sorrows and pain. It somehow put my sore feet in perspective!

The walk from there to Viana was straight into a nasty headwind. I decided to stop in Viana instead of pushing on to Logrono. Another 10km in that wind seemed just to far. Viana was a great stop. It is a beautiful town and the albergue was great - mostly because I found a lot of friendly, familiar faces and we had good afternoon pottering around town.

Iglesia de Santo Sepulcro

Alter inside the Iglesia de Santo Sepulcro

Ceiling of the Iglesia de Santo Sepulcro