Camino Primitivo, 16.Sep.2022, Oviedo

I made the train! Not surprisingly, I was up at 3, but figured that was pretty good and they actually had tea/coffee and some pastries in the lobby from 5-7 when breakfast opened. So – I was there at 5.

Then on the train, I wrote, listened to a lecture, read and then thought oh my, what am I getting myself into as the mountains got bigger and bigger, mist/clouds surrounding the train. Beautiful, but oh boy. Especially because Camino Ways, the organization I used doesn’t set up maps the way that MacsAdventures does. I’ve tried and tried to download the Google maps they say are their resource. I know I’m gifted in this area, but this really is a challenge.

Happily, I do have the app Camino Primitivo by The Wise Pilgrim and that’s what I’ll use. Plus a lot of luck and hopefully, decent signage once I’m on route. And, though I had read that only 4-5% of Camino walkers do the Primitivo, I definitely saw people who were walkers. That’s a relief.

Oviedo seems like a really nice town. I first found something to eat, always feels like a triumph in Spain, then went to the Cathedral. This is where the Camino all started with Alfonso II The Chaste. The first building was from the 8th century and was added on to over the years.

Alfonso II was the first to walk the Camino in 820 and this route was considered the safest route to get to Santiago.

Impossible to really get photos, but the cloister is always my favorite part of a cathedral.

This image of El Salvador (The Savior) who the Cathedral is named after is from the 13th century. It is an image of special devotion for the pilgrims (scallop shells on the base), following the “Way of Saint James”.

The Original Way starts at the Cathedral, but there are so many relics that are conserved in the Holy Chamber (no photos allowed) that the Cathedral itself is a pilgrimage destination.

I am going to be doing walking retreat, but the sign also noted: “Those pilgrims who visit us keep in mind a fragment of a French song that says: ‘Whoever goes to Santiago and not to the Savior visits the servant and forgets the Lord.’” Caught my eye. Just a different kind of pilgrim, I guess.

First, just a cool chapel – then the plaque said “In 2012, an altarpiece from 1954 was removed that revealed the wall behind it, part of the Saint Michael tower, dating from the 8th century. Love those historical surprises!

Then, because the older the better as far as I’m concerned, I went walking to look at a preserved 9th century church and this, a 9th century fountain.

I had left the Cathedral and old city behind and was in regular Olviedo that was built around these different ancient pieces. It seems like a really nice city, I got to see some of its inhabitants a number of times because I kept getting turned around.

This is the Foncalada Fountain built during Alfonso III the Great’s time. Pre-Romanesque architecture and has an inscription on it that was common at that time, “With this sign the pious are protected, with this sign the enemy is defeated. Lord, place the sign of salvation on this fountain and do not allow the striking angel to come near.”