A Man Above Equals

Our longest, hottest day meant not seeing the inside of Najera’s Monasterio de Santa Maria la Real, with the reportedly exquisite tomb of poor Dona Blanca, a young woman set up to marry two men before marrying the third (at 16) and then dying in childbirth five years later. I’m not sure having a beautiful tomb is just recompense, but at least she and her lot are thought of and prayed for 900 years later. The other element I was sorry not to see were the lacy carved stone of the cloisters. But We did get to see the immense red wall of Rioja clay behind the town, which offered a natural fortification so that manmade attention could be focused on the east-west road through town that is the Camino.

Not quite as long and not quite as hot was the day to Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and I was damned well – sorry Saint James – darned well going to get into that cathedral and pay my respects to the man who made it, the town and parts of this Camino possible, way back in the 12^th century.

Domingo was born a little further north, in a village that has demolished his house and reputedly dispensed with his baptismal font from the church, which we will try to verify as we pass through tomorrow. 

He was humble and devout but when his ambition to become a monk was thwarted due to illiteracy, he turned it around to become one of the most important influences of the Camino. He dedicated his life to making life easier and safer for pilgrims by building a bridge so they did not have to walked alongside the river for miles and miles until a ford would be made. (Incidentally this is the river Oja, in Spanish "Rio Oja", which is how the region (and wine) Rioja got its name). He cut down 37 km of forest to make a safe road. He built a hospice for pilgrims (now a 5 star Parador) and then a church, where he is now buried. In so doing, a town grew up, a town now carrying his name and which celebrates his day in May even now, despite having died in 1109. What a legacy for an illiterate man.

the right side is the remaining piece
of the 12th century church

both of these are St. Domingo

crafted only 100 years apart

These two column top carvings crack me up.
They depict the parable of the wise and foolish virgins:
the wise virgins hold their candle upright and are happy,
while the foolish virgins hold theirs upside down and
look most puzzled as to why the lights go out

This place carries another story, one that has been attributed to other places, such as Toulouse in France, but remains connected to this place. The story goes that in the 12^th century, a pilgrim family (a couple with a son) came to stay in Santo Domingo de la Calzada on their way to Santiago. The inn’s daughter took a shine to the travelling boy pilgrim, who resisted her entreaties. He was on a pilgrimage with his parents after all! Angry with this rebuff, the girl secretly put a piece of silverwork from the cathedral in the boy’s bags and alerted the authorities the next day, who found the silver and sentenced the boy to hang. Which he did. The parents finished their pilgrimage and came back here on their way home, heartbroken at the loss of their son. How surprised where they to find their son still hanging but very much alive! They ran to the city official who was about to sit down to his dinner of roast chicken. When told their son was still alive, the city official snorted and replied that the boy was as alive as the cooked chicken he was about to eat. Lo and behold, the chicken on his plate rose up and came alive, feathers and all. Surprised at the miracle they all ran back to the gibbet and cut the boy down, now convinced of his innocence. Which is why there are live chickens in the cathedral (apparently descendants of the originals) to this day, and the city’s soccer team has a chicken for a mascot.

The story does not relate what happened to the inn keeper’s daughter but I hope she got her comeuppance.

painting of the moment the boy is cut down alive....

...which is on the 15th century chicken coop
(note piece of original gibbet on wall above)

it used to be that if a pilgrim gave the chickens crumbs
and they ate then the pilgrim will have a safe journey

yes, there really are a cock and hen in there
although they are behind soundproof glass
as they used to cause too much noise
during mass

Santo Domingo's expression looks to me
like his is thinking "Really? I devote
my entire life to making pilgrims'
ways easier and safer and now every picture of me
has to include chickens?"