We didn’t take rest days on our initial 3 Caminos, for no particular reason and fortunately didn’t need them. However, after the pandemic, we began planning one or more rest days in Burgos and León for subsequent Caminos. Burgos and León are located near the 1/3 point and 2/3 point, respectively, of the walking distance between SJPDP and Santiago. For a given pilgrim, the Camino experience may demand adjustments that may not be accomplished in the smaller villages along the way. A rest day in either Burgos and/or León can provide an opportunity to address most any unfulfilled needs.
Both cities offer a wealth of history, cuisine, architecture, logistics, lodging, shopping, medical and other services to make good use of the “resting time” allocated.
Our Camino2025 plan called for 3 rest days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) in León,
before moving on west on Monday morning.
León began as a Roman military encampment in 29CE and developed into a permanent settlement charged with protecting Galician gold on its journey to Rome. Visigoths took the city in 585, only to lose it to Muslim invaders in 712. The city was reconquered by Ordoño I around 850, who initiated a building boom and welcomed Mozárabic refugees (Christians living under Muslim rule). The city was leveled in 988 by Al-Mansur’s troops.
The walls around the historic center of Leon are still very visible. The oldest sections were built by Legion VII Gemina at the end of the 1st century. In the 3rd century, a second wall was built in front of the original walls. The Roman walls are 17ft thick and 26ft high with semi-circular towers at regular intervals! The Medieval walls were built in the 14th century and are outside the Roman walls on the south and west sides.
Rebuilding León began soon after the Al Mansur attack in the 11th century and León began to flourish as a wool industry center. In 1188, the city hosted the first Parliament in Europe under Alfonso IX and became wealthy enough to construct the astonishing cathedral.
León’s finest treasure is its sublime Gothic cathedral, featuring 1,800m² of magnificent stained glass windows from the 13th-15th centuries. Without a flashy central retablo, the cathedral lets the streaming light steal the show. This is the fourth church on this spot, begun in 1205 and completed in record time (about 100 years).
Below are various photos from our Sunday morning visit, highlighting the interior of Santa María de León including the beautiful stained glass windows and magnificent organ.
Last September, while in Leon on Camino2024, we discovered Tranches, a nice, family owned restaurant which had good food and a warm, friendly atmosphere. They offer local cuisine items on a menu that changes daily, but also contains familiar items. Total cost for a single two-course meal is 15€ including a nice local wine, fresh bread and dessert (postre).
Tranches is less than 50 steps from our apartment and its open hours matched our preferences. We had our main meals here on Friday and Saturday.
On Sunday morning, we ventured out at 8:30 to have breakfast and spent the next half-hour searching for a place that was open. We finally found a small cafe not far from our apartment, called, “Lumina”.
After our Sunday morning visit to the Catedral, we encountered a large procession which blocked our way to the apartment. It was apparently the León celebration of Corpus Christi, a religious and art event.
Once the procession cleared our way we decided to stopped at a small neighborhood grocery store and bought the fixins’ for preparing our main meal for today in our apartment kitchenette.
We spent part of the afternoon making preparations for rejoining the Camino tomorrow and spent the remainder actually resting.
Jimandi 