Day 12 - Belorado to San Juan de Ortega

 I am little behind on my entries, but will try to bring you up to speed.

Today took us over some very lovely rolling hills from Belorado to Villafranca Montes de Oca. We had a little rain today, but nothing like some of the previous days.

From Villafranca Montes de Oca (above) we went into the mountains to the left. The beginning is a steep upward climb that then continues to climb but a a slightly lower pace. As you approach the top of the mountain crest you come upon two common graves from 1936. These "fosas comunes" held the bodies of individuals whose political ideas did not fit with those of the dictator Francisco Franco. It was not uncommon for government officials to take a person from their home in the dead of night, take them to a remote place, have them dig a trench and then execute them on the spot. 

There are over 6000 places like this one around Spain. Approximately 140,000 individuals were victims of the Franco Regime between 1936 and 1950. Another 49,000 individuals were victims of the Republican government during the three years of the Civil War. The nearly 200 bodies that were recovered from the "fosa" above were placed in a small mausoleum near Villafranca Montes de Oca.

We arrived safely in San Juan de Ortega where we visited the Iglesia de San Juan de Ortega. The church has one of the most beautiful narrative capitals I have seen in Spain. It tells relates events from the Nativity Cycle.

Above (left to right): The archangel Gabriel visits the young Mary (The Annunciation); behind the figure of Mary is another representation of her pregnant (The Virgin of Hope); next is the Visitation when Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. At the corner of the capital is Joseph. Here, as in many representations of him, he appears to be asleep. However, if you look above his head you will see an angel who rests their head on his. This moment is taken from Matthew 1:19-21 that reads, "The Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived iin her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Moving around the capital you find the Nativity. In most of these representations you see the ass and the ox watching over the young child. Their presence is significant: Isaiah writes "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider" (Isaiah 1:3). Above the babe is the star that announced his arrival; to the right of the babe are three vessels said to represent the gifts given by the three Magi. The main figure is that of Mary. In Romanesque representations of the Virgin she is seen in a relaxed posture, often holding her hand to her cheek. The belief is that Mary came into the world to counter the "sin" of Eve. Therefore, where Eve was to suffer in childbirth, the Virgin was to experience a painless birth. Standing near the Virgin's head is the midwife who witnessed the miraculous birth.

If you look carefully,, behind the midwife is another feminine figure. This may be the other midwife, Salomé, who doubted the verity of the virgin birth; a topic frequently represented in other reliefs. The last scene is the appearance to the shepherds by an angel.

This is an excellent example of how art was used to remind the believer of Christ and his role in the eternal plan.

Sadly, we could not stay in San Juan de Ortega. There was "no place in the inn." So we bussed to Burgos for the night and then were bussed back to complete the stage from San Juan de Ortega to Burgos.