Santa Orosia: the chapels of the princess beheaded
[tab:Travel]
Mount Oturia emerges from the Huesca region of Serrablo perched like a sentinel at the foot of the Pyrenees. Your profile indolent no comparison with the nearby Peña Oroel, most majestic, but history has been generous with its forests and ravines, giving him one of those tragedies that stand the test of centuries. The climb from the town of Yebra de Basa, of passage of the Holy Grail, is marked by a succession of chapels, four of them carved into the rock, that recall, twelve centuries later, the martyrdom of Santa Orosia, a Bohemian princess who according to tradition came to the former Kingdom of Aragon to marry the King Fortun Garces, and ended up being mutilated and decapitated by the troops of the emir Muza sarrecenas for refusing to marry his son. Two centuries later, a shepherd found the body of the young, revered in the area since. Today, the head of the saint lies in Yebra de Basa and the rest of the body is venerated in the Cathedral of Jaca. The climb to the shrine is named after the saint can not just go and meet this sad story, but also enjoy a beautiful journey that feeds the spirit and comforts the soul.
Soon after starting to walk in the chapel of Augustus must be clear that the path to the left side of the chapel. Take the right track can be expensive, for though both lead to the same place, latter does not pass through the cave hermitages and "calcetinada" full sun without any inducement is tedious. In the first few meters of the ascent, just past the river, surprised to see some steps secured with timber for easy climbing a hill. Signaling, also, is excellent (white and yellow markings) and the route is dotted with posters with accurate information on wildlife, flora and history of the place. Walker is indebted to all the anonymous effort of another incentive to go ahead by the utility, an area of scrubland that lives up to its name, so you should avoid the middle of the day if you go up in summer.
Just takes a few minutes to be confronted by the first chapel, of the Escoronillas, which in turn, dusk, follows a special light. A little higher, a small chapel, that of the kneel, seems to have swallowed a rock. The bare stone has slits and two circular cavities, according to tradition, mark the spot where the saint knelt to be beheaded. The climb is lying, but steady, before entering the shaded, that brings all the magic forest of shadows and silences. We walked among the pines, oak and hazel, flanked by huge boxwood bushes and shrubs "guillomo" or "landmark", with its wood bats are the dancers of Yebra, one of the most characteristic images of the pilgrimage that every 25 June made the same trip to the shrine of St. Orosia. Is this land of wild boars, deer and weasels, but quite rightly do not reveal, afraid of the ruthless hand of man.
Under the waterfall Chorro
Is then, in the woods, when of the blue opens a clearing in the forest that reveals a stone cliff by a waterfall splashed saffron. Up there, embedded in the rock, overlooking the shrine of the cave, most of all and where the remains of the holy. And a little lower, of St. Cornelius (one and a quarter from below), named after the brother of the Bohemian princess, where were buried those who composed the retinue of the young Orosia (some remains were desecrated during the Civil War). These sites have met many hermits hidden, they chose to distance the landscape of the world. The vultures fly overhead waiting to claim its territory and a fatal accident of a cow to get your booty. More difficult is sighting a vulture, but if any, Hayles.
Is, certainly, the most beautiful part of the course and which is impregnated with the largest number of stories, somewhere between legend and reality. There is, eg, that 16 June 1680 there was a miracle attributed to the saint when a boy of Yebra, Bartolome Escuer, fell asleep while twenty yards from the upper cave empty and was not injured. In this ravine there is also a tradition that says that anyone who throws a stone from above can know the years it will take to marry according to the number of times it bounces on the rocks. I can not believe that young people are interested in knowing in advance the year of your marriage, now marrying less and less. I can think of many more intriguing questions to ask the destination.
Peering is the vacuum O shrine Zoque. After two hours of climbing the walker makes you calm, as if the chapel was the repository of the peace of the mountains
Fossils abound throughout the area, no wonder the ground we walk on the sea floor was made 80 million years, before the emergence of the Pyrenees by the pressure of Africa on Europe. Glued to move the stone under the waterfall jet to reach the hermitage of San Blas and Santa Barbara (as above, the first half of the seventeenth century), significantly restored, almost ready to beat the stone wall and reach the pasture, known here as "bars", where up to graze cattle in summer. There, about 1.600 meters, peeking vacuum, is the O shrine Zoque. After two hours of climbing the walker makes you calm, as if the chapel was the repository of the peace of the mountains.
In fifteen minutes we reach the Shrine of St. Orosia, an end of the annual pilgrimage of this walk, and where the road meets the track leading up from Yebra de Basa. The place is idyllic, quiet and relaxing, and do not even need to carry the water to enjoy a picnic, as there is a generous source of pipe at the foot of the temple. When we are actively preparing for a baptism (next to the church there is a shelter whose keys, assure us, can be ordered in Yebra). I can think of few places better suited to receive the water of baptism.
[tab:the way]
From Sabiñánigo must take a detour Yebra de Basa in variant around the town (towards Huesca, right hand). Seven kilometers of good road is the small town of Yebra de Basa. We need to move the village to find the trailhead, that is indicated.
[tab:a nap]
There are several hotels in Sabiñánigo (The Pardina, City Sabiñánigo, among others) Inns (Escartín and Valle de Tena) Jaca and nearby (the veinte minutes drive) offers a wide range of hotels. VaP. does not favor either.
[tab:a table set]
In nearby Sardinian (two kilometers from Sabiñánigo) worth stopping the Restaurant "A Gabarda" (www.asadoragabarda.es), where you can taste a good price (although portions are not as generous as before) the traditional cuisine Altoaragonesa. Special mention for the rabbit or grilled ribs of lamb. The terrace is a delight to drink coffee. Closed Mondays.
[tab:highly recommended]
-Who would know little rise to the sanctuary can continue the hike to the top of Mount Oturia (1.925 meters), is reached in less than an hour for a track then you have to leave to arrive at a cattle fence. Its 1.000 vertical meters, so you must calculate more than three hours of climbing. The views are spectacular and the weather is good to be seen Rolando Gap, National Park and Monte Perdido Ordesa.
-If there is opportunity, join the pilgrims in the traditional Holy pilgrimage Orosia, each 25 June, worth really worth. In addition to experience firsthand one of the most deeply rooted traditions of the High Aragon, the dance of the dancers on stage Yebra so overwhelming is an unparalleled folk show.
-The so-called Route Serrablo, running for village churches in the area, certainly surprised. It is a great way of discovering the region.
[tab:END]
Comments (3)
Blas
| #
You can tell who knows the route. I'm going through the area in no time and I promise to try this climb I do not know. With a near-Aragonese.
Blas
Answer
ricardo
| #
Thanks, Blas. The early fall is a good choice for the route. Enjoy it
Answer
Fran ostos
| #
fantastic story! Fancy boots and put on the route start. Congratulations to VaP. for being able to always surprise
Answer