Calzadilla de la Cueza

How long to stay?

An evening is enough. Calzadilla is a street with hostels, a bar and a church. You arrive here after a stage without a village, rest and carry on towards Sahagún tomorrow. If you still have strength after a break, you can walk on to Ledigos or Terradillos.

Calzadilla in Ninja numbers

• 17.2 kilometres lie between Carrión de los Condes and Calzadilla, and there is not a single village in between.
• 69 metres is all the climbing on this stretch, an almost level line across the plateau.
• 391.5 kilometres are still left from here to Santiago on the Camino Francés.
• Just under 50 people live in Calzadilla, along a main street of about 200 metres.
• Eleven painted panels make up the Renaissance altarpiece in the church of San Martín.

Arriving: at the end of the Parva

A few kilometres beyond Carrión you pass the ruins of the abbey of Benevívere, then the Vía Aquitana begins, the old Roman road known here as "La Parva". In places the paving still shows. The stretch is largely shadeless; there are fountains such as the Fuente del Hospitalejo, and in season mobile stalls sometimes stand along the way, but you should not rely on them. Right at the end the path dips, and Calzadilla suddenly lies before you.

In brief: a road older than the Way

The village owes its name to the road: Calzadilla means "little Roman road". The Vía Aquitana is far older than the Way of Saint James. In the Middle Ages pilgrims went from the abbey of Benevívere to the hospital of Santa María de las Tiendas, a house of the Order of Santiago that already existed in the 12th century. Only remains of it are left at the edge of the village. Calzadilla belongs today to the municipality of Cervatos de la Cueza. And if you have read Hape Kerkeling's 2006 pilgrimage book, you may already know the name.

Adobe and an altarpiece: what to see

It is not much, but it is worth a look.

• Iglesia de San Martín: The church is medieval in origin and has been rebuilt many times. Its treasure is a 16th-century Renaissance altarpiece from the school of Juan de Juni, with eleven painted panels. It used to stand in the chapel of the pilgrim hospital of Gran Caballero and shows, among others, Saint James. We have not found opening hours.
• The adobe houses: Many houses in the village are built of adobe, sun-dried mud bricks typical of the Tierra de Campos.
• Ruins of Santa María de las Tiendas: At the edge of the village lie the remains of the old hospital and monastery of the Order of Santiago.

Honestly

• The stage to here is long and empty. 17.2 kilometres without a village, hardly any shade. Leave Carrión with enough water and food for the whole stretch.
• No cash machine, no pharmacy. You will only find both again in Sahagún.
• Bread and meat only from the van. There is a grocery shop; the baker and butcher only come on certain days with their vans.

Where pilgrims sleep

The public hostel, Albergue de peregrinos de Calzadilla de la Cueza, has 34 beds. There is also the private Albergue Camino Real with 32 beds and the small Albergue Los Canarios, which only opens from Easter to the end of October. Sources disagree on the prices and season of the public hostel; ask beforehand.

Ninja tips

• Stock up on everything in Carrión. The mobile stalls on the Parva are not there every day.
• Watch the paving. In some places on the Parva you can still see the stones of the Roman road.
• Walk on after a break if you have the strength. Ledigos is only 6.1 kilometres, Terradillos de los Templarios 9.2 kilometres further.

Onward: towards Sahagún

Beyond Calzadilla you go via Ledigos (6.1 kilometres), Terradillos de los Templarios (9.2 kilometres) and Moratinos until, after 22.1 kilometres, you reach Sahagún, which sees itself as the middle of the Camino Francés.

Deep dive: The road a village is named after

A short read, in case you want to learn more about Calzadilla de la Cueza. About two minutes' reading.

Older than the pilgrim way

Long before anyone walked to Santiago, a road ran through this land. The Romans called it the Vía Aquitana; it linked Bordeaux with Astorga. Around Calzadilla it is still called La Parva today. The village carries it in its name: Calzadilla, the little paved road. Whoever walks here from Carrión today walks over ground more than two thousand years old.

A house of the Order

In the Middle Ages the Order of Santiago looked after the people on this road. At the edge of the village stood its hospital and monastery of Santa María de las Tiendas, recorded as early as the twelfth century. Pilgrims came over from the abbey of Benevívere and found a roof here. Today only remains are left. What survived stands in the church: the altarpiece from the hospital of Gran Caballero, with the Apostle among its figures.

What Calzadilla gives you

Here you learn what emptiness means. Seventeen kilometres without a village, only the road, the sky and your own steps. And then a village of mud brick, a fountain, a bed. Sometimes that is enough.