LIVE from the Camino On the Vía Künig

[alansykes]

In the 1490s, a German monk called Hermann Künig walked from Vach to Santiago and back again, recording his trip in 651 verses. After the Codex Calixtinus, it is almost certainly the first guidebook to the Camino, and the first to give details on where to stay, what to eat and which innkeeper might shortchange you. It was hugely successful, going through four editions in a very short time. If Künig is ever canonized, he should quickly become the patron saint of tripadvisor.

Mostly he followed the Camino Francés. However, wanting to avoid the climb up to O Cebreiro, he advises turning right and following the río Valcarse upstream to Pedrafita do Cebreiro, and continuing vía Lugo and then the Camino Primitivo.

Today I followed his footsteps, as well as those of George Borrow in the 1830s. Leaving Villafranca del Bierzo in thick chilly fog, I was surprised by how much of the camino is on tarmac. Occasionally the sunlit uplands were just visible, or a rare shaft of brilliant sunlight would strike the valley floor, with the busy grey green waters of the Valcarce providing a continuous running commentary.

A Jacotrans lorry passed by, and a few other pilgrims appeared along the roadside, although all had their rucksacks. I fell in with a charming Breton lady of about my age, and we walked together to Vega del Valcarce, where she is staying tonight, and where we each had a very nasty bowl of soup. Nasty, but very convivial, and the first person I've broken bread with in over 50 days.

Künig's path leaves the Francés near Las Herrerias, following the river upstream through beautiful thick woods. Occasionally you're forced briefly on to the old N VI highway, but it's blocked at the top for motorway construction, so only locals can use it. Borrow gets a little breathless about this section, writing: "It is impossible to describe this pass or the circumjacent region, which contains some of the most extraordinary scenery in all Spain ... The traveller who ascends it follows for nearly a league the course of the torrent, whose banks are in some places precipitous, and in others slope down to the waters, and are covered with lofty trees, oaks, poplars, and chestnuts. ... Everything here is wild, strange and beautiful."



Shortly before the top of the pass, where motorway works are in full swing, you pass into Lugo province in Galicia. My 5th and last autonomous region of this camino, and my 10th and penultimate province. At the entrance to Pedrafita do Cebreiro is a lifesized bronze sculpture of Künig, in pilgrim fig.



And soon afterwards I was installed in a very comfortable casa rural, Miguiñas do Cebreiro, and provided with a Vía Künig tote bag, a Vía Künig credencial and an excellent leaflet on the Vía Künig.

 

[Kiwi-family]

So glad you chose this one - plenty of us are watching with interest.

 

[alansykes]

The rosy fingered dawn over Pedrafita was very pretty, with Venus high in the east.



The camino leaves town and heads sharply upwards to about 1250m, followed by nearly 8km along a magnificent high ridge, with spectacular views to every side. At one point an eagle was circling below me, something I've only seen a couple of times before.

The Vía Künig from Pedrafita is marked with signposts at every junction.



After the delightful hour or so on the top, the path descends fairly steeply downhill, passing "many a lonely hamlet, which hid by beech and pine, like an eagle's nest, clings on the crest" of green (and gold) Galicia. Oak and chestnut, rather than beech.



Part of the Künig follows the Vía Antonino roman road XIX which goes from Braga to Astorga vía Lugo - the early part north from Braga I walked last year on the Caminho da Geira e dos Arrieiros.

Just over half way you pass As Nogais, a convenient pause for coffee. Borrow wrote: "Nothing could be more picturesque than the appearance of this spot: steep hills, thickly clad with groves and forests of chestnuts, surrounded it on every side; the village itself was almost embowered in trees, and close beside it ran a purling brook." Not much has changed.

Another couple of hours, mostly through golden tunnels, almost entirely off tarmac, and you're in the town of Becerreá, with a pulpería for my first pulpo of the year, and a comfortable pensión almost next door.



Sadly, the day's 500m of ascent and 950m of descent left me at only a little over 600m up, and probably the last time I'll be over 1000m this camino, or at least sleep at over 1000m.

 

[alansykes]

I was the only person staying in the comfortable pensión in Becerreá - Os Ancares. I never even met the landlord, who let me in by wifi, and turned on the heating in the same way. The only low tech element was leaving 30€ out in cash when I left in the morning.

A café was open at 7.30, and then out onto more woodland trails. Not the spectacular mountain views of yesterday, partly because of mist first thing. But still, really pretty long golden tunnels, with a thick layer of golden leaves underfoot - and not slippery ones, as it hasn't rained since Martinmas. One village en route, with a delicious raspberry tart to go with my coffee; a few hamlets, otherwise completely deserted countryside. Quite a lot of trees and branches down from the storms a few weeks ago, but nothing insurmountable.



The last 8 or so km of today's Künig don't show up as any sort of path on mapy.cz. I was nervously wondering if I should ignore the kunig.es website and stick to the main road, when a car pulled up and one of the locals responsible for establishing the Künig route got out for a chat. He insisted on giving me another Künig tote bag, and seemed thrilled at how enthusiastic I was about everything I'd encountered, also confirming that there really was a safe path off the road coming up. Perfect timing. We discussed it not being an "official" route, which I am probably the last person on earth to worry about. I mentioned that I was planning to leave the Primitivo on Wednesday to head for Sobrado dos Monxes, which he agreed very much "vale la peña". Finally, that the fuente just down the track had some of the best water in Galicia - it was indeed delicious. Not looking forward to Lugo's water tomorrow, hope it isn't as bad as Ponferrada's.

I'm now at a truckstop on the N6, the Hostal Prados, clean and comfortable with a decent 13€ menú del día, ~20km from Lugo.

 

[davejsy]

Leaving Villafranca del Bierzo in thick chilly fog, I was surprised by how much of the camino is on tarmac.

I'm sure everyone knows this but - There is a beautiful alternative route from Villafrance del Bierzo which cuts out about half the road walking on the way to Vega de Valcarce via beautiful Pradela - although I guess it does add a few extra km. As a Camino amatuer I've no idea what the road bit was like, but the route we ended up on was beautiful - and we had cake made from Chestnuts in Pradela!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Gorgeous photos! I wish I'd known how beautiful the views were the two times I walked out of VdB in 2015 and '17. Things I regret not seeing on the Frances were Eunate, Predala, and Samos.

 

[alansykes]

At breakfast in the truckstop this morning, a trucker asked me where I'd started from. “¿Porto Sagunt? ¡¿Sagunto, Valencia?! ¡Madre mía!“

For a slightly dull day in Galicia, a bit of Galicia-themed music seemed appropriate, so Delibes' Coppelia went on the headphones. I had been confused to pass several "Rutas de Delibes" in Valladolid province, but these turned out to have been dedicated to his great-nephew Miguel Delibes, a Spanish novelist, not Léo, my second favourite Seconde Empire composer.

More golden tunnels, much less up and down. Zig-zagging over the motorway several times, then again mostly following the Vía Romana XIX again. No miliarios, or none that I saw, unlike the clumps of them on the same road north of Braga. Apparently a couple of local churches have altars held up by recycled milestones. Quite a few more blown over trees and branches, one needing a bit of bushwhacking to get round, mostly not problematic.



Surprising number of mushrooms still around - my favourite shaggy inkcaps, some parasols, a few fly agaric.



Fairly lengthy suburbs, mostly in a nice park, and finally Lugo's impressive city centre, encircled in its remarkably intact Roman walls. After supper, I walked the full, pleasant 2km circuit, beautifully floodlit. The very low parapets mean you can't afford to lose concentration. I'd expected to have them to myself, but it was busy with joggers, dog walkers, lovers snogging, smokers smoking. Very pretty, with the waxing gibbous moon overhead and Jupiter bright to its east. With any luck the moon should be pretty close to full if I get to Santiago for Sunday.

There is a beautiful alternative route from Villafrance del Bierzo which cuts out about half the road walking on the way to Vega de Valcarce

Normally I would have taken that, but I was a bit nervous about getting up to the pass at Pedrafita before losing the daylight.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

it was busy with joggers, dog walkers, lovers snogging, smokers smoking.

Seeing all the locals out on a sunny day was actually one of the things I enjoyed as I walked the walls in Lugo. I remember thinking of how fortunate they are to have this amazing "gem" to take advantage of.

 

[alansykes]

At shortly after first light I was crossing the Miño on the Ponte Romana, having passed my first xunta camino hito - 98,700 metres to go, on the Primitivo. The 4th place one of my caminos has crossed the Miño - on the Geira e dos Arrieiros, on the Sanabrés, on the Invierno, and here. I continued on the Primitivo for about 10km, almost entirely on tarmac, entirely next to a road, and for about 5km actually on the road, with no verge and most cars ignoring the 70 and 50kmph speed limits.



The Primitivo mostly follows the Vía Romana XIX, with occasional deviations. On one of these I followed the Roman road to Santa Eulalia de Bóveda.

What a place, what a place. One of the highlights of a camino that has included a glut of Roman, pre-Romanesque and Romanesque. A small underground chamber, partly a 4th century barrel-vaulted Roman structure - possibly even earlier - with faint relief carvings visible on some of the stones.



In the 6th or 7th century the Visigoths added what is believed to be the earliest known horseshoe arch in Europe.



More importantly, they covered the ceilings with exquisite paintings. Highly realistic, delicately coloured paintings, mostly of birds - pheasants, ducks, peacocks, chickens - and some plants.







At first glance I assumed they too were Roman - their style is not dissimilar to some of the works in Herculaneum - but the knowledgeable and chatty guide assured me they had been carbon-dated to the 7th century. Above, the structure had been covered over by an entirely nondescript 18th century church, which probably saved it from destruction. Nobody knows what it was designed to be - spa, temple, church, burial ground.



Enigmatic - and astonishingly beautiful - for ever. Such a pleasure, and especially to be shown round by the charming custodian, who was thrilled when I showed her some pics of the later horseshoes at San Miguel de Escalada. And her office had the only two miliarios I've seen on this section of the XIX.

And then on to Friol. I'm sure I've read on gronze or somewhere that the Camiño Verde link between the Primitivo and the Norte is signed from Santa Eulalia as well as from Lugo, but I couldn't find any green arrows. Mapy.cz sorted me out a perfectly decent route, so it wasn't a problem. Although loose agressive dogs were. At one point 4 were circling me threateningly, while their owner ineffectively tried to call them off. I told her she shouldn't let them out if she couldn't control them, and she shouted something at me in Galician. From her tone, I don't think it was complimentary.

At one high point there was a distinctive bump in the hillscape due south, which I think might have been the Monte do Faro, just after Chantada on the Invierno. I had been regretting not getting to see the two outstanding (and atypical) el Grecos in Monforte de Lemos. But after Santa Eulalia, I no longer am.

At Friol, I'm staying in the Pensión Casa Benigno, which is fine, and which did a decent lunch. Künig carried on on the Primitivo, probably using the Vía Romana after Bóveda.

 

[David Tallan]

At shortly after first light I was crossing the Miño on the Ponte Romana, having passed my first xunta camino hito - 98,700 metres to go, on the Primitivo. The 4th place one of my caminos has crossed the Miño - on the Geira e dos Arrieiros, on the Sanabrés, on the Invierno, and here. I continued on the Primitivo for about 10km, almost entirely on tarmac, entirely next to a road, and for about 5km actually on the road, with no verge and most cars ignoring the 70 and 50kmph speed limits.

View attachment 160368

The Primitivo mostly follows the Vía Romana XIX, with occasional deviations. On one of these I followed the Roman road to Santa Eulalia de Bóveda.

What a place, what a place. One of the highlights of a camino that has included a glut of Roman, pre-Romanesque and Romanesque. A small underground chamber, partly a 4th century barrel-vaulted Roman structure - possibly even earlier - with faint relief carvings visible on some of the stones.

View attachment 160369

In the 6th or 7th century the Visigoths added what is believed to be the earliest known horseshoe arch in Europe.

View attachment 160370

More importantly, they covered the ceilings with exquisite paintings. Highly realistic, delicately coloured paintings, mostly of birds - pheasants, ducks, peacocks, chickens - and some plants.

View attachment 160371

View attachment 160372

View attachment 160373

At first glance I assumed they too were Roman - their style is not dissimilar to some of the works in Herculaneum - but the knowledgeable and chatty guide assured me they had been carbon-dated to the 7th century. Above, the structure had been covered over by an entirely nondescript 18th century church, which probably saved it from destruction. Nobody knows what it was designed to be - spa, temple, church, burial ground.

View attachment 160376

Enigmatic - and astonishingly beautiful - for ever. Such a pleasure, and especially to be shown round by the charming custodian, who was thrilled when I showed her some pics of the later horseshoes at San Miguel de Escalada. And her office had the only two miliarios I've seen on this section of the XIX.

And then on to Friol. I'm sure I've read on gronze or somewhere that the Camiño Verde link between the Primitivo and the Norte is signed from Santa Eulalia as well as from Lugo, but I couldn't find any green arrows. Mapy.cz sorted me out a perfectly decent route, so it wasn't a problem. Although loose agressive dogs were. At one point 4 were circling me threateningly, while their owner ineffectively tried to call them off. I told her she shouldn't let them out if she couldn't control them, and she shouted something at me in Galician. From her tone, I don't think it was complimentary.

At one high point there was a distinctive bump in the hillscape due south, which I think might have been the Monte do Faro, just after Chantada on the Invierno. I had been regretting not getting to see the two outstanding (and atypical) el Grecos in Monforte de Lemos. But after Santa Eulalia, I no longer am.

At Friol, I'm staying in the Pensión Casa Benigno, which is fine, and which did a decent lunch. Künig carried on on the Primitivo, probably using the Vía Romana after Bóveda.

The Bóveda detour was certainly a highlight of my camino this summer past. I would join Alan in recommending it to anyone walking nearby, either returning back to the Primitivo or continuing on via the Verde.

 

[alansykes]

No fireworks today. Casa Benigno opens at 7, and I was leaving Friol by a very pleasant little riverside park by 8. A quiet day, mostly off tarmac, partly through calf depth puddles, but nothing like as bad as a few weeks ago, when some of the bridges "over" the Mera were actually in it.



The Camiño Verde markings are mostly very good, and mapy.cz also shows the way, suitably on a green line. A few km before Sobrado dos Monxes, I joined the Norte for the first time since 2014. Not a bit I've walked before, as I turned right onto the coastal Ruta do Mar at Ribadeo back then.



Only 14 monks keeping the huge complex at Sobrado dos Monxes alive, the Brother Hospitalero told me. Brother Lawrence, English, and as chatty as every Trappist monk I've ever met. The most English I've heard (or spoken) in nearly two months. The monastery albergue is very comfortable, and it will be a privilege to sleep in one of their three cloisters.







Vespers was in an upstairs chapel in the middle cloister. It soon became clear that these Trappists did not come to their vocations through music. It was wonderful to see the bright stars over the cloister.

 

[alexwalker]

As a Camino amatuer I've no idea what the road bit was like, but tlhe route we ended up on was beautiful - and we had cake made from Chestnuts in Pradela!

The road route out of Villafranca del Bierzo is very dull, but as an old man I avoid climbs when I can... And BTW; you are not a Camino amateur any longer, You walked the walk.

 

[alexwalker]

It is always a joy to receive your writnings @alansykes : Thank you!

 

[alansykes]

A long day, much longer than I expected. At 7am Ursa Major was encircling the towers of the monastery, with Venus blazing bright to the east. And Maximilian, the very cuddly monastery cat, coming out for a last purr.



Such perfect weather is simply not normal for my November and December arrivals in Santiago, and such a pleasure to walk in. Long commercial eucalyptus plantations, interspersed with chestnuts. Running low on water, I refilled my bottle in the Mera - possibly the most delicious water since Teruel province, a lovely surprise. My entirely unscientific belief that dogs on heavily walked caminos are less likely to bark at you seemed to be partially confirmed - the only times I got the big yap was when off the Norte or the Francés, and the same happened leaving Lugo: no barking chorus until detouring off the Primitivo to Santa Eulalia de Bóveda.

I ended up walking from before sunrise to after sunset, partly because I had difficulty finding anything open from Salceda, where I'd originally planned to stop. Odd, after nearly two months walking and never not being able to sleep where I'd expected to (except in Grajal de Campos at halloween, due to incompetance).



I had fallen in with Miguel and Marta, who had walked the Primitivo from their doorstep in Oviedo. They too were walking a longer day than they planned, from Melide. An unexpectedly emotional moment when I suddenly spotted the Pico Sacro in the sunset to the south west - landing lights for my dozen arrivals in Santiago on the Sanabrés, and for last year on the Geira e dos Arrieiros.



By the time I checked in to a pensión in O Pedrouza, the nearly full moon was being closely stalked by Jupiter. My first ever night on the famous, or infamous, last 100km stretch from Sarria.

 

[alansykes]

 

[nycwalking]

View attachment 160471

Wow!

Thank you.

Buen camino.

 

[Charrito]

I walked the Via Künig, only the stages from Piedrafita to Lugo, just before Christmas.

Following in the footsteps of Alan Sykes and Álvaro Lazaga, I stopped in the same places: Piedrafita, Becerreá, O Corgo and Lugo.

It really is a beautiful walk, especially when the weather was unexpectedly benign for this time of year. Spectacular scenery, enough places for a break during the stages, incredibly friendly people, and - of course - great food.

It's worth taking some time to explore the wonderful Bosque de los Grobos between As Nogais and Becerreá. It's also worth a bit of a detour between Becerreá and Baralla to see the 12th century Monasterio de Santa María de Penamaior.

The signposting is excellent. The locals are really desperate to get this alternative route recognised officially, and I can see it taking off over the next few years.

Feliz Año y Buen Camino!

 

[Charrito]

I'm back on the Via Künig next week. This time with my wife. This camino is going to take off BIG TIME very soon. It's spectacular.