Day 33 - Acebo to Ponferrada

225 km to Santiago de Compostela

We started with a very nice day, walking on the road and with beautiful views of the mountains around us.  Soon we were off the road into the Camino path.  Steep and rocky but very beautiful. 

We passed the village of Riego de Ambros and the path got more difficult and soon the rain started.  I slipped on a  rock and fell but the only thing I hurt was my pride.  It took us a long time to get to Molinaseca which is fairly close to Ponferrada.  By then we were soaked.  I really did not want to take a chance of another fall for me or for her. 

We found a coffee shop, so we entered to get a warm drink and I asked the server if there were buses to Ponferrada.  He said no but that we could get a taxi.  There was a man with two ladies seating nearby and he got up and said "I can take you".  We introduced each other.  They were hospitaleiros, volunteers working at an albergue. He is a Spaniard, Javier, and the ladies were Betty from Ireland and Jenny from Australia.  After some friendly conversation they drove us to Ponferrada were we found a nice hostel next to the Templars castle.

Ponferrada, Pont Ferrada, the iron bridge, is a medium size city, big enough to find anything we need here.  We had some errands which we took care of.  Buy some food (hard to find open stores on the weekend in small villages), get some cash, buy new tips for my poles.

In the XI century, the river Sil was a big obstacle for pilgrims.  The bishop of Astorga ordered the construction of an iron bridge to facilitate pilgrimage.  Son a few houses were built by the bridge and later the Templar's castle and the town grew.  Today, the old town with the castle is on one side of the river and the modern city on the other.

Knights have always fascinated me.  After Jerusalem was secured by the crusades, pilgrims going to the holy land were often assaulted and often murdered even in large groups.  Hughes de Payens, a French knight recruited 8 knights among his relatives and started the order under the protection of Jerusalem's king.  The king assigned as their headquarters the Temple of Solomon.  The order took the name of the "Poor fellow-soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon" or the Templar knights.  They were warrior monks making vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and their mission was to protect pilgrims.

They became a very powerful army and they were key in the crusades,  on the Spanish reconquista (fighting the moors in Spain) and as protectors of the pilgrims (together with the knights of Santiago) in the Camino de Santiago.

The castle in Ponferrada is impressive by its size and its fortifications.  It also has an impressive library of mediaeval books.
We ended the day early because we have an ambitious goal for tomorrow.  We will see how far we can get.

Saint Bernard of Clairbaux, doctor of the church, you defined the rule of the Templar Knights and became their patron saint, protect our pilgrimage and pray for all pilgrims in the Camino and for us.