Hello again,
We made it to Spain and our second stop in Spain was Navarra, Spain, which is one of the first stop in the pilgrimage for the Camino de Santiago in norther Spain.
Iglésia Santiago el Mayor
Here in Navarra we visited the church Santiago el Mayor, also known as St. James Church, built in the 12thcentury and rebuilt in the 16thcentury. St James Church was the first Spanish style we visited and we were able to see and compare the differences between Spanish and French churches right away. This church has a “retablo” at the back of the altar that is made at out of wood and cover with a leaf of gold. The “retablo” brings back the imagination from many different bible stories and it contains many gothics sculptures, which was something that was used during that era.
For me this church was an eye opening…I say this because it was very different from the other churches we have visited. The first thing I noticed is that they have the black space to separate the church from the world. When we stepped in the black space it was darker than the usual spaces of other churches. The second thing that I noticed and shocked me the most was the “retablo” that was behind the altar. I was not expecting to see a “retable” behind the altar. I was very amazed and shocked with the fact that someone took the time to carve all of the images in the “retablo”. It was also very interesting seeing pilgrims going in the church and getting their papers stamp for the Camino de Santiago. Overall, this was a very eye-opening church for me, seeing how different it was.
Puente la Reina was one of the coolest bridge I have ever seen. The bridge had an interesting structure, it would go up to the top and then come down, it’s not like your typical round bridge. I find very amazing the fact that the bridge is not just a regular bridge. This bridge was built for a purpose, to help the pilgrims cross the river and continue their amazing journey. For me this is one of the most beautiful bridge I have seen. The structure is very unique and it’s even better when you actually walk through the bridge.
Fun side of the bridge…
The arches from the bridge have little steps that you can climb to go on top of the arch. Most of us in the group decided to climb up the steps and see how the arch looks from the top. At the beginning I was very nervous about going up the steps because they were very small and the first step was very tall, but after making it to the top I was glad I did it because it was worth it. Below you can find a picture of the group that climb the little steps to the arch.
Photo Credit: Maria Paula Survilla
URL: http://turismo.navarra.com/item/iglesia-de-santiago-el-mayor-puente-la-reina/
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