león

as you see, i have cut back on the reporting. but, life can only be lived forward, the camino works similarly. so, here a new update:

following the break in león, i am continuing the camino frances, all the way to the ocean and hope to provide updates more frequently as well. no guarantees for daily updates though, as i won’t put pressure on myself.

there is life in león - in all forms and shapes. as in murals, people, locals, pilgrims, et cetera. meaning, there are destractions as well. as in ‘blinding ornaments’.

the most impressive thing in león is the cathedral, at least in my opinion.

a few stats: built at a time (13th century) when león had a mere 5 to 10 thousand citizens, there are more than 1,800 square meters of stained multi-colour glass panels in 125 windows, 1,500 pieces of art.

as the audio guide explains, the building was once doomed to crumble under the weight of a barock coppula added in the 17th century.

good engineering and a lot of work got the cathedral back in (gothic) shape (mainly in the 19th century).

all in all maravilloso. i went there twice in three days.

of course, the cathedral isn’t only architecturally fantastic, but - following on from the hiking days through the meseta and its ‘natural iglesia’ - a place that makes you look inwards.

more in that regard tomorrow (no strike that, in the next post).