Once again an early start –
this time being a big city we found a restaurant open – not the one below – but this one worth noting – just near the Albergue
We walked through the streets of Pamplona and up the hill to Zariquiegui (10km) and stopped San Andres cafe for some distance at the top of the hill before descending
The climb through the wheat fields and paths was enjoyable and getting hotter
And then we arrived eventually after the climb up to the “Hill of Forgiveness” – Alto te Perdón – and there you are confronted with iconic most photographed scene of the Camino
This is “monument to the pilgrim” which has become a symbol of the Camino de Santiago. This monument consists of different silhouettes in sheet metal representing pilgrims from various eras, since of pilgrims pass through this place every year. Ot felt quite good being in this place and passing through where so many millions have done before – is this starting to touch a different realm of this experience?
Someone or some people have really been thinking about the importance of the transitional journey – the hill of forgiveness has three powerful messages – THE FIRST being the iron cast silhouettes of pilgrims through the ages. THE SECOND. Being the powerful wind turbines in this fridge that apparently effortlessly transform natural force ( of wind) in to electrical power.
THE THIRD is a stone medial dedicated to the recognition and reparation for the 92 people assassinated in 1936 and 1937 by the Francoist repressive regime, after the coup d’état against the government of the republic, in Sierra del Perdón.
This is a tribute to the victims and their families who were killed for fighting for their ideals of social justice and, democracy. In Navarra there wasn’t a front during the war and these people were killed without a trial, deprived of their homes by force and buried
in mass graves in this land.
All of them forgotten and silenced for 81 years by institutions.
The memorial includes a stone in the middle which symbolizes all those who disappeared and other 19 smaller stones arranged in an open spiral who represent the villages, towns and cities where part of the population was murdered.
The names of this killed are in a nearby plaque- see below
We eventually made it down the other side
and decided to stop in Uterga
