Exploring and Birding Lugo

Although it was a debate, we decided to take a rest day in Lugo to explore the city.  Some historic accounts suggest that the city of Lugo was founded by the Celts, who may have named it after Lugos, the Celtic God of Light.  Another theory hints that the name is derived from the Romans, who called it Lucus Augusti, or Lucus, meaning sacred grove. In 13 BCE the city was conquered by the Romans, who ruled it until the 5th century, when it fell to the Suebi and Visigoths.  During the Middle Ages it became a center for pilgrimage, which is how we experienced it today. 

Lugo has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Centre because it is the only city in the world that is still completely surrounded by an intact Roman wall. The wall is 8 -12 m high, 4 - 7m thick, and features 10 gates and 71 towers.  The top of it is a pedestrian walkway with a 2.1 km circumference that offers beautiful views of the old city, the cathedral, and the surrounding hills and mountains.  Right after enjoying a delicious breakfast of café con leche and croissants in a small cafe, the Roman Wall was the first spot we explored. 

 

We made our way down to the Cathedral de Santa Maria, which we returned to later in the day, and made our way up to the top of the wall by means of the ramp beside the Puerta de Santagio.  It was an overcast morning with an interesting sky - small patches of pale blue interspersed with lines of fluffy white clouds, areas of low, solid grey clouds, and a few banks of dark storm clouds hovering ominously in the distance.  Even with the iffy weather there were a few locals out walking their dogs or taking their morning exercise on the elevated walkway as we began to explore.

We took our time circling the city, stopping to admire the outline of the cathedral spires in the city-scape, observing the long treed promenades and small city parks from above, watching cats daintily pick their way across the red tiled roofs, getting previews of the narrow, winding streets of the old town, looking at the various murals and street art displayed along the walkway, including a large portrait of Caesar Augustus, and enjoying the terraced gardens of the homes facing the wall. 

 

One of the most exciting things was discovering that both House Sparrows and Common Swifts were nesting inside the walls!  We spent quite a bit of time watching the aerial displays of the swifts foraging for insects above the adjacent roads and buildings, and using the loud cheeping of the sparrow nestlings to locate their nests, which were wedged in among the uneven stones of the walls.

Just as we were finishing our first circuit around the wall it began to rain lightly.  Since we hadn't brought any rain gear and didn't really want to get soaked, we beat a hasty retreat back to visit the cathedral.  We had stepped inside briefly yesterday afternoon, but hadn't spent too much time, and Sean hadn't taken any photos because he didn't want to disturb a nun who was very passionately praying in front of the altar.  The man working at the door remembered stamping our credentials yesterday, and he allowed us to visit a second time for free.  What a lovely gesture!

 

Construction on the Cathedral de Santa Maria was begun in 1129.  It was originally built in the Romanesque style, but later on Gothic, Baroque, and Neoclassial elements were incorporated as well.  It was built on the site of a former church, which was constructed in 755.  In 1129 Bishop Peter III commissioned a new building in the 'modern' Romanesque style.  It was completed in 1273, but it was later damaged in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, and construction continued over several centuries, resulting in an interesting building that displays several different styles.

The inside of the cathedral was very impressive, as would be expected.  A large and highly ornate central alter piece was surrounded by many smaller side chapels.  One of my favourite chapels was dedicated to Nosa Senora dos Ollos Grandes (Our Lady of the Big Eyes).  Not only was it a compelling chapel, with a beautiful and apparently much venerated representation of the Virgin, but I couldn't find any explanation for the intriguing name.  Who was Our Lady of the Big Eyes and what was her story?

We spent about an hour looking around inside the dark, cool, interior of the church, admiring its stained glass windows, and visiting the cloister.  Self-guided English language tours of the cathedral are available, and it is possible to take a guided tour of the 18th centuries towers and cloister if you happen to arrive at the right time on the appropriate day, which we did not.  Nevertheless, we enjoyed our visit very much.

 

 

After visiting the cathedral we stepped into the Provincial Museum of Lugo, which is located in the Convento de San Francisco.  It is believed that this convent was founded by Saint Francis on his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, but historical records only date back as far as the 13th century.  Today it houses many interesting exhibits, which we found well worth exploring.  

Among the highlights was seeing a collection of Roman mosaics (3rd century AD), and funerary stela from Crecente (1st and 2nd century AD).  One mosaic in particular had been reconstructed on the floor of one of the rooms, and we could look down on it from an upstairs balcony.  Seeing the geometric patterns created by the coloured tiles below made us wonder if anything we create in our modern world will survive as long or as well as the creations of the Romans. 

Another point of particular interest was exploring the cloister, which housed a large collection of stone sun dials, Roman epigraphy, and medieval heraldry, capitals, sarcophagi, and tombs.  One of the other exhibits I really enjoyed was a series of models located in the refectory, which showed the evolution of home construction in Spain from earth huts, to fieldstone homes with thatched roofs that were half house and barn, to enclosed compounds, to the modern stucco homes with red tile roofs and enclosed courtyards.  The museum housed a truly impressive collection of art and artifacts, and we spent quite a while exploring it.

By the time we left the museum the weather had cleared up somewhat, and we wandered back out into the old part of the city, exploring its winding streets.  We stopped at a small cafe where we enjoyed a delicious lunch of veggie empanadas, sandwiches, and cafe con leches. 

A lazy stroll eventually brought us back to the main square, where we sat under an umbrella for a while, eating an ice cream and watching the crowds of locals and tourists wandering past.  At the center of Praza Maior is a raised and formally landscaped green space, complete with pathways, geometrically arranged flowerbeds, and a gazebo.  Around the edge are various historic plaques and statues, including a large bronze representation of Caesar Augustus and Fabius Maximus Paulo holding aloft a document as a powerful reminder that Lugo was founded by the Roman Empire.  This green space created a quiet and peaceful feeling main square, and also provided a gathering spot for young boys wanting to practice their soccer moves.

Since it was a day off, we spent a quiet afternoon working on catching up on various errands, and debating how to walk the final stages to Santiago.  With only 100 km left, we debated whether to stick to the traditional Camino stages of 20-25 km per day, or whether to pick up our pace to cover the remaining distance in 2-3 days.  The second option would allow us to spend less time in the final stages of the Camino Frances, which we fear will be overwhelmingly busy, and it would also give us time to walk the Camino Ingles or Fisterra during our remaining time in Spain.  While the second option is tempting, a very big part of any Camino for us is the people we meet, and we feel a strong desire to celebrate with our 'Camino Family' when they complete their journeys in Santiago.  We also feel that perhaps we shouldn't try to avoid the final 100 km into Santiago by racing through them, because as challenging as we might find them, there are undoubtedly lessons we could learn there.

Over the course of our wanderings today we had bumped into Tom and Ben, and we'd agreed to meet everyone for dinner and drinks around 8 pm.  Predictably, we were already hungry by 5 pm, so we headed back to the quiet square where we'd had dinner last night, to have a snack of the delicious pimiento peppers of padron and salted mushrooms.  As we sat on the quiet outdoor patio in the afternoon sunshine we were reminded of our walk along the Camino Portuguese, where we first tried the pimiento peppers of padron.  It was 2019 and we were sitting on another outdoor patio on the banks of the Rio Umia in Caldas de Reis, also just two days away from reaching Santiago de Compostela, and also just a week away from starting out on our #Hike4Birds across Canada on the 28,000 km long Trans Canada Trail.  How history seems to repeat itself!

As the sun began to sink lower towards the horizon, and the streets began to fill up with well-dressed locals heading out for a night on the town we moved over to the restaurant where we were meeting Ben, Tom, Roni, Victoria, Rory, Ester, and others.  We sat at a long table on the sidewalk, thankfully under an awning.  The patio was packed, and as the night progressed the street, which was lined with bars and restaurants, became a solid mass of people.  Vegetarian options were limited, but Sean bravely tried pulpo for the first time.  It came in small pieces, cooked and piled on a wooden board and sprinkled with paprika.  I am very happy to report that Sean liked the octopus very much!  

Night fell and we remained on the patio, eating, drinking, talking, and watching the crowds of people walk past.  It was one of those classic Camino evenings that no one wanted to end, even though we all knew we had another day of walking ahead of us.  A slight breeze blew in, and suddenly a bolt of lightning lit up the sky, thunder shook the cobblestones of the street, and the skies opened up in a warm, summer shower.  As people began diving into doorways and nearby bars, scrambling to secure anything that might blow away, and generally scurrying around in a flurry of activity, we decided to have another drink under the shelter of the awning.  After about half an hour the rain ended as quickly as it began, and since our meal was long since finished, we decided to head back.

Along the way we somehow found ourselves stopping in another small bar for a last nightcap, sheltered from the weather outside.  One thing led to another, and we ended up spending a very long night, first simply enjoying each other's company, and finally getting sucked into the final episode of Eurovision.  I had never heard of this show before, but this annual music competition has been going on for decades, and many singers and bands have gotten their start on it, including ABBA (who won Eurovision for Sweden in 1974 with 'Waterloo') and Celine Dion (who won for Switzerland in 1988 with 'My Heart Will Go On).  Who knew?  I'm not sure how it happened, but we ended up staying with Ben, who was passionately rooting for Britain to win, long after everyone else has gone to bed. 

At 2 am the night ended in victory for the Ukrainian competitor, and we decided to call it a night.  I have no double that tomorrow morning will arrive far earlier than any of us would wish, and I think perhaps the decision to do an extra long day might require some rethinking!

Distance: 0 km (rest day)

Accommodations: Hotel Mendez Nunez