A surprising geological curiosity

 We are in 2012 territory.  I mention this only because as we move along we will come to the border with Aragon.  The road surface turns from prim and new to somewhat a highway may look the morning after a good night out.  It may have changed since then.








We won’t be passing any builsings so enjoy the Bardenas Reales - that lump of geography off to the left.  Jean Luc said of it ‘An’ unusual, surprising geological curiosity in this desert which transports us into the world of landscapes on the other side of the Atlantic. In short, Les Bardenas are well worth the trip. Traveled by camper van at the end of September but all means of travel are accepted subject to temporary bans. Inquire beforehand…


Frank added ‘Bardenas is an incredible place to go with the family and even with your partner you can travel with your own car since the authorized track called perimeter is completely adapted to all types of vehicles we can see different areas divided into several stops where we can take the best photos For our memory, our own recommendation is the vulture nesting area and Mount Juan Obispo.’





Today we assail a new provence - Aragon.  I know, but the place did exist for more than just to have Princess Catherine come from there.  We are probably going to do a lot of this sort of thing so today we will do the Kingdom, not the Provence, first.


Aragon was originally a Carolingian feudal county around the city of Jaca, which in the first half of the 9th century became a vassal state of the kingdom of Pamplona (later Navarre).

On the death of Sancho III of Navarre in 1035, the Kingdom of Navarre was divided into three parts: Pamplona and its hinterland along with western and coastal Basque districts, Castile, and  Sobrarbe, Ribagorza and Aragon. Sancho's illegitimate son Ramiro received Aragon. His got more land when his half brother was killed and was, de facto, the first King of Aragon.

By defeating his brother, García Sánchez III of Navarre, Ramiro achieved independence for Aragon. His son Sancho Ramírez, who also inherited the kingdom of Navarre, was the first to call himself "King of the Aragonese and Pamplonese" As the Aragonese domains expanded to the south, conquering land from Al Andalus, the capital city moved from Jaca to Huesca (1096), and later to Zaragoza (1118). 



The Kingdom of Aragon gave the name to the Crown of Aragon, created in 1150 with the dynastic union resulting from the marriage of the Princess of Aragon, Petronilla, and the Count of Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer IV. Their son Alfonso II inherited all of the territories ruled by his father and mother. The King of Aragon also held the title of Count of Barcelona and ruled territories that consisted of not only the present administrative region of Aragon, but also Catalonia, and later the kingdoms of Majorca, Valencia, Sicily, Naples and Sardinia.






More of this sort of stuff tomorrow.

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

Cows are important, rain is ubiquitous

Image
  We are descending into the route to the coast. It is the point of all this wandering.  It is a bit British in terms of small lanes and odd turns,  We are on one of many of the camino routes for a bit of this.  We will pass one of the many tiny bus shelters on these lanes. I think I got a clue as to the weather when walking into a cafe in Gijon and noticed an umbrella stand.  Gijon gets 955mm of rain a year.  Santiago gets 1855mm.  London only gets 557mm. We will pass nearby Iglesia de San Juan de Castromaior.   I honour Pablo Pardo Lamela who gives it five stars for the reason ‘ Because I live here’.  The church was built in the 16th century on the site of an old fort. It has an 18th century baroque altarpiece.  We are now in Lugo province.  Apparently these devout Christians remember the Celtic god Lugh in this name. The place has about a third of a million people living here.  The population peaked in 1940 with over 540,000...
Read more