Lavacolla

[Caminando]

I believe that in the Middle Ages language was very direct - is this why Lavacolla was so named? :arrow:

 

[KiwiNomad06]

My friends from Quebec, (who I walked all of the last 100km with, as well as often from Cahors onwards) were well-versed in the history of Lavacolla as the place where pilgrims washed themselves after their journey, to purify themselves for the entry into Santiago. However, as it was raining heavily as we passed by here, we could barely see anything, and never lingered to do any of our own purification! I guess the rainfall was doing that for us anyhow....
Margaret

 

[sillydoll]

Lava - colla = wash your genitals.

 

[TerryB]

I took this photo of the stream in Lavacolla, wondering if the rock was to sit on while I washed appropriate parts??

As a 'by the way' DO NOT eat the plants in the background :!: They are Hemlock Water Dropwort and highly poisonous.

Blessings
Tio Tel

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Lovely photo. We didn't see this stream for the mist. It seems to take forever to walk in thick mist, and we were exhausted when we arrived at Monte de Gozo, where we decided to stop for the night.....when we finally managed to find the albergue!!!
Margaret

 

[Caminando]

Lava - colla = wash your genitals.

I think it's more specific than that and strictly for the lads! :shock: :arrow:

 

[Deleted member 3000]

There is a lot of heads down, forge ahead walking in the stretch from Lavacolla to Monte do Gozo/Santiago. Mid-morning I walked 200 meters off the Camino at San Marcos to a very nice bar/cafe for a cafe con leche and bathroom break. The bartender said that he got very few pilgrims even in peak season. I suspect that very few pause to lave at Lavacolla.

 

[ivar]

Lava - colla = wash your genitals.

I always thought it was "wash your neck" ("cuello" is neck in Spanish, "Lavar" wash...)...

Not sure where I have it from though...

Saludos,
Ivar

 

[andy.d]

If I remember rightly, Walter Starkie has a long discussion of this but ends up just washing his neck. I've lent my copy of The Road to Santiago out - anyone remember his take on the tradition?

Andy

 

[sillydoll]

Ivar is correct, but the name of the river has changed.
Aimery Picaud called the spring Lavamentula because the French pilgrims used to wash their private parts and their bodies for love of the Apostle.
Walter Starkie said, "When I reached the spring I contented myself with the following instructions given by the modern name Lavacolla, and I washed my neck in the spring..."

 

[Peter Robins]

I've seen various etymologies for this place, all of which are more plausible to me than that usually given, which smacks decidedly of folk etymology. (And if pilgrims were going to wash themselves, they would surely do so in the river Sar just before entering Santiago rather than several miles beforehand running the risk of getting all dirty again.)

See for example this thread http://es.groups.yahoo.com/group/jacobe ... sage/11741
A similar theory I've come across is that it comes from words meaning 'river by a hill'.

Another of the many dubious stories in that great work of fiction, the Codex Calixtinus.

Anyway, according to the IGN, the river is called the Sionlla.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Whatever the etymology I'm going for the Starkie approach myself

 

[Rebekah Scott]

there is a move afoot among our California brethren to restore a sort of Lavadero that used to stand somewhere near that spot, where people did stop to wash something or another. I know few details, however.

 

[Telluridewalker]

Lava - colla = wash your genitals.

I think it's more specific than that and strictly for the lads! :shock: :arrow:

Lava- cola = "wash your tail" (Appropriate for both sexes and your burro, too!) :wink: