Medina de Rioseco - reopening of convent

[Bradypus]

Late last year the Poor Clares convent in Medina de Rioseco closed when the last of the sisters moved to another house in Valladolid. It has recently been announced that the sisters have handed over their buildings to another religious community free of charge for at least the next three years. The new community -la Misión Eucarística Voz de los Pobres - intend to run an albergue for pilgrims.

https://www.elnortedecastilla.es/valladolid/misioneros-eucaristicos-habitaran-20180712103603-nt.html

 

[LTfit]

Great news for those walking the Madrid. I guess it didn't work out for the Amigos Association of Madrid who was hoping to take over the albergue.

 

[timr]

Very happy to hear this news. It is a wonderful building with a long history - dating from1492 or 1493 from memory. I was fortunate to stay there last November a few days before the remaining Sisters moved to Valladolid and the albergue closed. It will be a blessing to have it open again.

 

[KinkyOne]

Very happy to hear this news. It is a wonderful building with a long history - dating from1492 or 1493 from memory. I was fortunate to stay there last November a few days before the remaining Sisters moved to Valladolid and the albergue closed. It will be a blessing to have it open again.

So it was built the same year C.Columbus "discovered" America (although named after another captain Amerigo Vespucci) or San Salvador to be exact. Such a time span...

 

[timr]

Yes! I like that place on the Camino de Madrid where Juan Ponce de Leon was born, Santervás de Campos, (with a nice albergue and a museum to him).
He 'discovered' Florida!
Another place I don't think had ever been lost....

 

[VNwalking]

It's so wonderful to know that sisters will be there offering shelter to pilgrims. Too bad for the Amigos, but maybe they can take on another place where hospitality is needed?

 

[Rebekah Scott]

One sister, and three or four brothers, from Brazil from the look of it. Very good news indeed!

 

[Bradypus]

One sister, and three or four brothers, from Brazil from the look of it. Very good news indeed!

I think the sister in the photograph is the abbess of the Poor Clares who recently left and very generously handed over the buildings. If I have read it right the article says there will be five members of the new community in place soon, with a further six to follow later in the year. Google Translate suggests they will be male ("picking up the baton of the masculine communities that the city had until the 19th century with Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits and Hospitallers of San Juan de Dios") though a bit of browsing suggests that there are also women within the wider order.

PS. This article from 2017 gives a little of the history of this community - both male and female branches - and their arrival in Spain from their foundation in Brazil. https://m.es.gaudiumpress.org/conte...ncia-comunidad-femenina-dedicada-a-los-pobres

 

[KinkyOne]

I think the sister in the photograph is the abbess of the Poor Clares who recently left and very generously handed over the buildings. If I have read it right the article says there will be five members of the new community in place soon, with a further six to follow later in the year. Google Translate suggests they will be male ("picking up the baton of the masculine communities that the city had until the 19th century with Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits and Hospitallers of San Juan de Dios") though a bit of browsing suggests that there are also women within the wider order.

PS. This article from 2017 gives a little of the history of this community - both male and female branches - and their arrival in Spain from their foundation in Brazil. https://m.es.gaudiumpress.org/conte...ncia-comunidad-femenina-dedicada-a-los-pobres

Thanks @Bradypus , always nice to have easy access to some history of the routes I like

 

[LTfit]

So it was built the same year C.Columbus "discovered" America (although named after another captain Amerigo Vespucci) or San Salvador to be exact. Such a time span...

...and according to history books the last year that the Moors reigned over Spain (711-1492) although I understand that it was a gradual process and which ended with the fall of Granada in January 1492.

 

[kelleymac]

...and according to history books the last year that the Moors reigned over Spain (711-1492) although I understand that it was a gradual process and which ended with the fall of Granada in January 1492.

That depends where in "Spain". The modern "Spain" didn't exist as one country then. Valladolid was repopulated after 1000 after the area was retaken by the Christian north, and under 1072 Alfonzo VI of Leon and Castile, it became a city. There was university established in about 1200 there.

 

[LTfit]

That depends where in "Spain". The modern "Spain" didn't exist as one country then. Valladolid was repopulated after 1000 after the area was retaken by the Christian north, and under 1072 Alfonzo VI of Leon and Castile, it became a city. There was university established in about 1200 there.

No, it was not yet Spain. The Iberian peninsula was called Al-Andalus at the time.

 

[Rich1]

Any idea when it’ll be open again...I’ll be passing that way early September but I’m presuming not by then

 

[MileHighPair]

Well now, does this mean we need to walk this beautiful Camino again? Would love to stay in the old place and meet the wonderful folks giving it another go. Great news.

 

[Kiwi-family]

Any idea when it’ll be open again...I’ll be passing that way early September but I’m presuming not by then

Can you update this thread when you go - I’ll be following at the end of September!

 

[Kiwi-family]

@Rich1 Now that I’ve read the article (or rather bumbled my way through it) I understand the first five will arrive in October. They’re all really young so should be there for a good fifty years!

 

[Mike1]

Any idea when it’ll be open again...I’ll be passing that way early September but I’m presuming not by then

Hi Rich I am also starting from Madrid early September the 4th to be precise, may meet you on route

 

[Rich1]

Hi Rich I am also starting from Madrid early September the 4th to be precise, may meet you on route

I arrive in Madrid on August 27thso I’ll be a few days ahead will trail blaze

 

[Elena peregrina]

We are staying there tonight. The young guy who took our "donativo" ( required minimum of 7euro) said there are 3 monks. The albergue is good - 20 beds in 2 rooms with 4 showers/bathrooms and great kitchen. Very peaceful - we are the only ones here.

 

[timr]

@Elena peregrina I am really very happy indeed to have confirmation that this albergue is functioning again. I must have been one of the very last to stay there before it closed. I was there on 24th November last year. The Sisters moved to Valladolid for December 8th. I wrote about it at that time. I was afraid that it would be much longer before it opened again, if ever.

 

[peregrina2000]

We are staying there tonight. The young guy who took our "donativo" ( required minimum of 7euro) said there are 3 monks. The albergue is good - 20 beds in 2 rooms with 4 showers/bathrooms and great kitchen. Very peaceful - we are the only ones here.

@Elena peregrina I am really very happy indeed to have confirmation that this albergue is functioning again. I must have been one of the very last to stay there before it closed. I was there on 24th November last year. The Sisters moved to Valladolid for December 8th. I wrote about it at that time. I was afraid that it would be much longer before it opened again, if ever.

This is great news. I'm wondering if the setup has changed totally. @timr, do I remember incorrectly that I slept in a tiny room with two beds and a shower/bath down the hall?

 

[ksam]

@Kiwi-family!! Rachel this looks like a great one for you to check out on your walk!! Buen Camino!

 

[Kanga]

Yes, so pleased about this. I remember it with fondness and was sad to hear of it’s closure, and the passing of the lovely nun who showed us the chapel and great hospitality.

 

[timr]

This is great news. I'm wondering if the setup has changed totally. @timr, do I remember incorrectly that I slept in a tiny room with two beds and a shower/bath down the hall?

Hi Laurie, @peregrina2000, I stayed in a room with maybe a dozen beds in bunks, across the courtyard from the convent entrance, to the left of the gate as you came in. So 'outside the enclosure' but 'within the walls'! The bathroom was off the same room. There was a good sized and well-equipped kitchen also.