Campanario en Pieros y Mercado en Cacabelos

There is a small church in Pieros, but like most iglesias in super small pueblos (thirteen people total) it is only open a few times a year. Yesterday Ulysses (a pilgrim/volunteer, ) Irena (his amor,) and I got to tour it.

The church interior. Much of it is covered in plastic to protect it from pajaritas (birds.)

The church was built in 1010, and is one of the oldest in Spain. It is even older than the cathedral in Santiago. Its name is St. Martin de Pieros.

The saint in the middle is St. Martin.
Here he is with a pilgrim. The poles are for when he is carried through the streets on holidays.

We got to climb the stairs to the platform that accesses the campanario (bell tower.) This close, you can see estrellas (stars) carved in the ceiling.

Ulysses and Irena. Behind them is the ladder to the campanario

We went back downstairs and looked around a bit more.

The church was restored about 30 years ago. I’m not sure what this was, but it is very old and from the original structure

Suddenly Ulysses says, “We’re going back up.” Apparently, after saying no, we couldn’t go into the bell tower itself, the man changed his mind. So we climbed the ladder through a very narrow space to this.

The city in the distance is Cacabelos. I walk there almost every day
Ulysses and our guide. Never got his name.
One of the two campanas
Slate is the most common roofing material

And this, folks, is why I do Workaway. No one had been in that bell tower for years. You don’t get to do this sort of thing as a tourist; you have to know a local.

Today when I walked to the library there was a market in the square.

I didn’t buy anything

2 thoughts on “Campanario en Pieros y Mercado en Cacabelos

  1. That sounds so amazing! I was a typical American and went to Lowe’s! Bought a new carpet for the screened in porch. Your gift card works!

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