Day 25 - Mansilla de las Mulas to Leon

335 km to Santiago de Compostela

We decided that we would rather walk in Leon than walk to Leon.  Mancilla de las Mulas is just over 17 km from the centre of Leon.  We woke up early and took the 7:45 am bus to the city. 

The three most notable features of Leon are the cathedral of Santa Maria de la Regla, the Real Colegiata de San Isidoro and el Parador de San Marcos.

We had visited the cathedral last year but we started by participating in mass there. The mass was in a chapel that we accessed through a side door but even in this small sample of the cathedral you can admire the splendour of this church.
The building was started in the XIII century and completed by the XVI century. It is Gothic in style.  It is one of the three most important cathedrals in el Camino de Santiago.  The other two are the cathedrals of Burgos and of Santiago de Compostela.

After the cathedral we went to check in the Parador de San Marcos.  We had decided to treat ourselves to some luxury after all the albergues and hostels where we have stayed.

Once we had a room assured we went to visit San Isidoro.  The basilica is from the XI century.  The royalty of Leon assisted its development and negotiated bringing the relics of several saints to this basilica.  It also became the pantheon of the royalty.  Several Leonese kings, queens and nobility are interred there.  The museum hoses amazing pieces of religious art.

After lunch we returned to the Parador and did a tour of the building. It stated as a convent - hospital by the side of the Camino de Santiago in the XII century. In the XVI century the hostal is built yo host the Military Order of Santiago.  This order had married monks, religious monks and military monks or knights.  The religious monks with the assistance of the married monks look after the physical and spiritual needs of pilgrims while the knights protected the pilgrims and fought in the war of the "reconquista" against the moors. 

The building includes the Parador (a hotel), a museum and a church.  We did a self guided tour of the building which contains a good number of pieces of religious art. 

It feels like we are living 1000 years of history.  I cannot even imagine what has happened or who has been in the room we are staying.

Santa Maria de la Regla, pray for us.