Monasterio de San Zoilo 13-14 May 2023
dear travel diary...
We set off this morning from the castle to head north to a place called Carrion de Los Condes where we are staying in part of a monastery complex. Spain has obviously invested heavily in infrastructure as the roads here are superb.
We passed through beautiful small villages with medieval towers and storks perched on top.
San Millan de los Caballeros
We decided to make detour to see the 15th century castle at Valencia de Don Juan. There was a brass band playing in the square so we sat and enjoyed the music.
Gill enjoying the music
Lottery ticket seller
Monastery of san Zoilo
We are staying in part of the monastery of San Zoilo. We walked through the cloisters this afternoon after we arrived and looked at the magnificent altar piece. It's a beautiful and tranquil place. We are on the route of the Camino de Santiago and we passed lots of pilgrims on the road as we drove here
Little villages
The area around us is sparsely populated but full of interesting small villages. Each has its own story but I'll just post a collection of images. The most beautiful village was Ampudia. I think everyone was at mass when I took this photo!
As if the centre of the town wasn't gorgeous enough, they thoughtfully positioned a 15th Century
castle, complete with draw bridge on the edge of the town
Here's some other random images from the day
Dovecotes
The whole region around where we are is dotted with old disused dovecotes which were used to breed birds for the table.
If you are interested in this sort of architecture you can see many different types HERE/
I spotted this dovecote and when I walked around to get a different perspective, I discovered it was ruined. The image shows the complicated concentric interior structure.
Torremormojon
Every church has its storks!
