Moore, Moore I'm still not satisified [with apologies to Tom Lehrer]

 We are weaving our way through the narrow streets which are bounded by the sea. It really is a day of two dead dudes. The first is Maria Pita. In 1589 the Empire struck back. Showing that, generally, away fixtures were unwise, the English decided to do their own Armada and attack Spain’s chief port on the North-West corner of Iberia. On 4th May the dastardly invaders landed and breached the defences of the old city. Maria Pita’s husband was slain. Maria was vexed by this, appeared on the heights of the wall herself, shouting in Galician: Quen teña honra, que me siga ("Whoever has honour, follow me!") whereupon the English incursion was driven back by the defenders.




The Plaza de Maria Pita contains a heroic statue of our girl. It was built in 1885. The square contains an elaborate Palacio Municipal, constructed in the 19th century and the church of Santiago, a Gothic joy dating back to the 12th century. Legend has it that the Church of Santiago holds a secret treasure hidden within its walls. According to the tale, during the Middle Ages, a wealthy merchant sought refuge in the church during a fierce storm. To express his gratitude for surviving the storm, he donated a chest filled with gold coins to the church. The chest was reportedly buried beneath the altar, and to this day, many believe that the treasure remains hidden, waiting to be discovered. The authorities will not look kindly at anyone approaching the place with a shovel.


Jim C liked the square. He wrote a month ago ‘This square is definitely worth seeing if you are in A Coruña. The square is very historic and very beautiful. You can Google and learn more about it, or a lot of guided tours will bring you here, and you can learn about it from an expert. We spent about 15-20 minutes here.’




Onwards to the place where Sir John Moore is buried. Sir John had been being heroic in S[ain in 1808, supporting brother Don against the wicked French. The arrival of Napoleon made him think it was time to quick. The retreat to Coruna may well have been the best of a bad set of options. Given we have more or less followed Moore’s route it is clear that this was not going to be much fun in the winter. The retreat began on Christmas Day. On 1st January Napoleon had reached Astorga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Corunna#Background To cut a long story short, on 16th January the French caught up with Moore’s army at Courina. Loses were roughly equal however the Brits managed to evacuate. Moore was killed at the moment of triumph. This is generally considered a good thing as he avoided the errors made by the Duke of Wellington after he decided to live on after Waterloo.



The Garden of San Carlos is a small and shady place overlooking the sea. It is open from 8 till 8. When the Spanish took back Couruna a tomb was laid out here for Moore, I agree with David Britton when he wrote ‘Easy to miss, but worth a visit. Peaceful, sheltered garden to sit and contemplate.’ Carlos was a bit sniffy when he wrote ‘More than a tomb it looks like a manger’ - no helping some people.


Time to leave. We are heading for Ferroll.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Much a do about something

Image
  In North Lincolnshire there is an OS square which is all but empty,  In a single corner stretches a few metres of power cables to spoil the virgin whiteness.  Today’s walk is not so blessed with flat calm.  We will see trees.  We will see ups.  Views are compulsory.  Houses aren’t.  Let's talk about Asturias in the years from 718 to 757. In 711 the full force of the Islamic tide swept from North Africa into Visigothic Spain. At the Battle of Guadalete King Roderic and much of the nobility were killed and the Iberian Peninsula collapsed before the all conquering crescent.  The thing is, Asturias is a long way from the main body of Spain. It is a bit wet and more to the point lacking the plunder which was the way of paying the Army of the Conquest.  The Caliphate’s hold on Asturias was tenuous to say the least.  Enter  Pelagius. Pelagius has many myths swirling around him and a very butch Victorian statue in Gijon.  Accord...
Read more

In which a Roman Bridge and a Funeral Parlour are reviewed.

Image
  We are rising again. We are rising 20 of your earth metres today. We will be 818m above the level sea. We are about at the highest point in the Cheviot Hills. We cross the Rio Porma and into Villarente and Puente Villarente. Both these twin settlements, lurking along the roadside, have generally grown in size since 2000.   https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/art-culture-heritage/great-routes/way-saint-james/puente-villarente First we must cross the Roman Bridge. Coyotuco is back with a five star review: A beautiful BRIDGE with a lot of history but it is not PEDESTRIAN. For pedestrians they have made a PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY right next to it. We are passing by the Artesanias Luyma so let us gaze at their ceramic goodness. Let us wonder  https://www.artesaniasluyma.com/categorias/pereruela/ While we are here and we are passing the Tanatorio Camino de Santiago let us visit this 39 reviewed funeral home. It gets an average of 4.9 stars.  https://www.antamontalvo.es/esq...
Read more

Mini Pieces of Supposed tuna

Image
  Pina de Ebro has something for everyone who enjoys the architecture of Spanish pueblos.  It has the tiny lanes, on which houses have been rebuilt for generations without a care for the needs of the modern motorist.  We have the pathways which have been tiled over but once were dirt tracks.  We have the modern suburban developments of low rise houses and 80s hopefully aspiring shacks.  First all, however, we have a park. One thing we noticed, especially with a small boy in tow, was the number of parks with interesting play equipment.  This is because, in Spain, people seem to like children.  This does make them a semi-public property and people feel free to indulge them with sweetmeats and pass comments. ‘I think sucking thumbs makes children look ugly’ said one elderly woman.’ My Spanish for ‘well desiccated prune face, no one asked you’ deserted me.  The play equipment is in the Plaza Pilarin Artigas.  Honestly I’ve looked and was giving u...
Read more