Rabé de las Calzadas on the Camino de Santiago

On the Camino de Santiago Francés, Rabé de las Calzadas is considered the meeting point of two Roman roads and the Fuente de Prao Torre. Several Roman roads ran through the municipality, including a fifth road that led to Clunia.

Culture

Construction work on the present-day Santa Marina Church began in 1877, after the former church had been demolished that year. Santa Marina preserves a Cistercian portal from the 13th century. The parish welcomes pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago and offers them conversation and a listening ear, Eucharistic celebrations and Vespers. Rabé de las Calzadas also celebrates festivals in honour of Santa Marina with Masses, processions and cultural events.

The Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Monasterio is the only one of three chapels mentioned in the 18th-century episcopal visitations that has survived. The image of the Virgin venerated there was found at the place known as Monasterio.

At the entrance to Rabé de las Calzadas stands the Torre Palaciega, a palace that belonged to the Count of Villariezo in the 17th century. Its façades are made of ashlar stone from Hontoria de la Cantera; the main portal is flanked by two towers, and the coat of arms of the Count of Villariezo is located on the lintel. In its landscaped courtyard, the Torre Palaciega preserves a Renaissance arcade on the ground floor.

The Casa Museo Isacio de la Fuente Martínez was converted into the contemporary art museum “Espacio Conectado”; it is located near the Camino de Santiago. On the Camino de Santiago Francés in Rabé de las Calzadas is the mural “Una pausa en el Camino”, also known as “Mural del Peregrino”, created by the urban artist Christian Sasa. The mural shows a resting pilgrim reading beneath a streetlamp and accompanied by a dog.

The Centro La Milagrosa is run by the Sisters of Charity and welcomes pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago who are seeking peace, prayer or personal reflection. It serves as a spiritual house where retreats and days of reflection take place.

The Fuente de los Cuatro Caños is a stone fountain with four taps on a square a few steps from the Camino de Santiago. As functioning, well-maintained cultural heritage, it has been preserved and invites visitors to stop and draw water.

Landscape

After crossing the Úrbel River, the Camino de Santiago follows the floodplain of the Arlanzón to Rabé de las Calzadas. Beyond Rabé, the route climbs onto the Páramos Calcáreos Castellano-Leoneses: extensive, very flat high plateaus cut through by rivers. From the Fuente de Praotorre, the changing landscape beyond Rabé de las Calzadas can be viewed.

Near Rabé de las Calzadas lies the area designated as an LIC, “Ribera del río Arlanzón y afluentes”.

Other places

Trespaderne, Pedrosa De Duero, Sasamón, Hornillos Del Camino, Redecilla Del Camino, Hontoria, Zazuar, Padilla De Abajo

For the higher-level travel overview: Burgos.