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| The ruined Cistercian Monastery (Monasterio de Santa María de Moreruela) |
We had a bit of a hill to climb to get away
from Montamarta but after that it was relatively level. What could have been a
very pleasant walk was marred for long stretches by the construction of the AVE
high speed rail track and motorways. The waymarking to get past these
obstructions left much to be desired. Our first problem was that we appeared to
have missed a diversion arrow and followed earlier arrows which petered out at
a highway. We followed the highway and eventually met up with the Camino again.
The terrain improved after that and took us
past a picturesque reservoir and the remains of the former capital of Leon and
headquarters of the Knights of St James - about 900 years ago. There wasn't
much left of it as it is mostly under the water in the reservoir.
After that it was back to the construction
work and often muddy paths. Approaching Granja we ran out any type of markers
and had to make our way across a half-made motorway to reach our destination.
Once again we are in a busy albergue. I
think we have 11 Peregrinos staying here, at least eight of us ate together in
the Zamora albergue two nights ago.
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| Monasterio de Santa María de Moreruel |
All the guidebooks recommend a visit to an
old Cistercian monastery, 3.7km from here. We don't walk more than necessary
but a notice in the albergue offered a lift and guided tour, on a donativo
basis. Six of us took up the offer and it was indeed worth a visit, although
the guide was fixated with the pre-Christian aspects of the site.
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