Stage Two - La Rioja - Part 4

As we neared the western extremities of La Rioja, the landscape became flatter and vines gave way to wheat. Our path stretched far out ahead, and we settled into a rhythm. Knowing that we had another hour to walk before the landscape would change, we turned inward into our thoughts, outward to enjoy the flowers, the sounds of the birds, the undulations of the fields.

Santo Domingo de la Calzada was responsible for preparing roads, raising bridges and building hospitals for the pilgrims. The cathedral named after him rises up high and can be seen for some time as one walks toward the town. If you are interested, you should ask me why it has been the cathedral’s tradition to keep two live roosters in a cage high in the church to one side of the main alter. And it is not to wake up the parishioners.

It was Corpus Christi the day after we reached Santo Domingo. In advance of taking the host out of the cathedral and carrying it about the streets of the old town, the residents lay a floral carpet over which the procession will pass. It didn’t take long for Encarnita to enter into the spirit of the morning. Soon she was giving detailed instructions to the townspeople as to how the carpet could best be arranged.

This thirteen century baptismal font in the Church of the Virgen of the Street is carved from a single block of stone.