Wednesday 26th April 2023

Sometimes you go for a walk with no planned route, you make changes as you go. This was us today, we saw a building with a tower on top of a hill and set off on what turned out to be a mountain bike trail. A lovely walk up through the trees following some very good markers. They do trail marking in spain very well whether it be sign posts or paint on rocks. On the way up the signposts told us we were going to the complex of Muro de Roda, no explanation of what to expect though.

We passed the little Chapel of San Vincente. Before reaching our unknown destination we saw a group of buildings which looked old and ruined. What we found was the oldest and most interesting temple of any building we were about to see. It was the hermitage of San Bartolome build in the 11th Century.

At this point we discovered that the place we were heading for was a religious-military complex, a walled village, undergoing restoration. The church dedicated to Santa Maria built in the 12th century. Inside it was highly decorated with paintings on the ceilings and walls. Within the complex walls was a cemetery, lots of small buildings and the hermitage of Santa Barbara. The panoramic views of the pyrenees and surrounding countryside were as you can imagine, amazing. We could even see Casa de Mur, where we are staying. No idea what the sword in the stone was doing here but we could not get it out.

We decended down another mountain bike trail again through the trees, very pleasant. “Oh no! Are they rain clouds? we’d better get back quickly!” The last mile was at a rapid pace only to get back in the sunshine as all the heavy rain clouds passed us by.

Footnote…… we did have a map😅