Mieres to Oviedo
May 31, 2023
Another day was spent walking without seeing even one other pilgrim. This was the third day in a row where I felt like I was the only one on the trail! When I chose to walk this route, I knew the Camino de San Salvador was one of the lesser traveled paths. I saw less than a dozen other pilgrims total throughout my six days of walking. Whether this is a good or bad thing is for you to decide! I’ll save my final thoughts on this Camino for the end of this post!
Today was walking along peaceful, beautiful back roads and up and over hills that eventually led into the outskirts of Oviedo. It was overcast and hazy all morning so the I’m-sure-they-must-be-beautiful views were quite limited. Since it was a relatively short day of 9 miles, I took my time to enjoy my last day on the San Salvador.
Oviedo
After stopping for a lovely picnic lunch, I began the long descent into Oviedo. It kind of surprised me that I felt a bit emotional as I walked toward the cathedral. One year ago I was here as a brand new pilgrim and now I’m back where it all started in Oviedo.
I sat at a cafe right in front of the cathedral and had my first tinto del verano of my walk. After sitting and reflecting on my experience for an hour or so, I went to check into my hotel (the same awesome room with a view of the cathedral as last year). After a shower and laundry, I walked over to the cathedral to get my special Compostela for finishing the Camino de San Salvador. And I got to tour the cathedral for free! I really felt like I was done with my walk however, this is really only the halfway mark of my Camino journey this year!
Final thoughts on the Camino de San Salvador
The Camino de San Salvador is exactly what I thought it was going to be. Beautiful, remote, challenging, and quiet. All of those things were amplified by ten! I love this region of Spain and the views on this trail were some of the most spectacular I’ve seen. There is very little in the way of support along the way so pre-planning is a must. There are a couple of days when there is no support, as in no cafes or grocery stores. Albergues are few and far between and generally have less than a dozen beds available. The trail was very challenging going through the mountains with a lot of steep ascents and descents. In some areas, the trail was quite overgrown and I did have a hard time following the trail in a few areas. I also found ticks around my exposed ankles on two occasions. Some days were mostly spent on pavement, either flat or hilly, which is very taxing on the feet. This Camino is not for everyone, but I’m glad I did it!
Photos from Day 6:
Santa Iglesia Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de
“San Salvador” de Oviedo
A visit to Oviedo is not complete without a tour of the Cathedral. It is the reason many pilgrims took a detour from the Camino Frances to head north to Oviedo along the Camino de San Salvador. Within the Cathedral is the Cámara Santa, the Holy Chamber. Here, holy relics are housed within the Agate Box that was taken from Jeruselum and found its way to Oviedo. A replica of the Sudarium of Oviedo is also on display with the real one only shown on 3 occasions during the year. The self-guided tour was very interesting and the architecture a thing of marvel!
Photos of the Cathedral:
