Astorga

Tuesday, June 17
We had a great day today seeing lots of sights. We went through a little town, barely mentioned in the guide books, Villar de Mazarife, saw a nice large parish church, and went to check it out. Closed as are most. However as we were standing there, the gardener came along to spray the mandrone trees, and knew where the key was and offered to open for us. We'll inside was a little gem of a church. There was a beautiful 17th century Renaissance altarpiece, of course, but set in a beautiful contemporary church, with an additional four similar altarpieces, two up front along with the main altar, and two on the side walls. So it is an amazingly beautiful church that no one knows about and that we were lucky enough to have seen.
We continued on to the medieval bridge going into Hospital de Órbigo, where in 1436 a knight defended his honor by defeating 300 other knights. This event was probably the inspiration for Don Quixoti.
We continued on a pretty long stretch of Camino into Astorga, a fairly large city. There are a number of historic churches here including a cathedral. The cathedral is gothic, but a later construction with lots of Renaissance features. While I certainly like the pure, simple gothic, I must admit I liked this cathedral. Unfortunately, the choir (with beautiful carved stalls) is in the middle on n the nave. But overall a beautiful cathedral.
Next to it is what is called the Bishop's Palace, though the bishop never lived there, as it was designed by Gaudi himself, and was probably recognized as a piece of art before it was done, . So it is a museum, though its main exhibit is the house itself. I came around the corner and caught my first sight of the chapel, and it was literally breathtaking. I've seen some beautiful churches, but the light, from the stained glass windows, and the colors, on the walls and decorations, in this little chapel left me speechless, I was truly touched by it.
So an amazing day and past time for bed, so goodnight to all, I'll hold you in my prayers.