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St John of Gaztelugatxe

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Posted on 2019-06-21 in
St John of Gaztelugatxe. Bermeo (Bizkaia), 1994. José Ignacio García

St John of Gaztelugatxe. Bermeo (Bizkaia), 1994. José Ignacio García Muñoz. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

This maritime sanctuary dedicated to the martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist has over the centuries been one of the most important pilgrimage destinations on the coast of Bizkaia. Pilgrims flocked here to pray, make a wish, promise, express their gratitude…, but also in search of unparalleled aesthetic and landscape experiences. The chapel and an old hermit’s house stand on the island, connected to mainland by a two-arched bridge. 232 stone steps along a narrow path lead to the hermitage, although tradition has it that there once were as many as there are days in a year. The quite inaccessible islet of Aketxe lies close. (more…)

Did people travel from the Iberian Peninsula to Trondheim (Norway) in the 11th–13th centuries?

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Posted on 2018-04-13 in
Viking raids on the Iberian Peninsula in the 9th–11th centuries. Reproduced from Haywood 1995

Viking raids on the Iberian Peninsula in the 9th–11th centuries. Reproduced from Haywood 1995.

During the Viking Age (c. 800–c. 1060), seafarers of Nordic origin ravaged numerous communities along the northern, western, southern and eastern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula. In the following centuries, devout Nordic Christians went on pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. But is it possible that individuals of Iberian Peninsular origin undertook travel, together with Scandinavians or perhaps partly on their own, in the opposite direction? And, if so, how far north did they go? The present note summarizes a few potential linguistic, archaeological and genetic indications of links from the mid 1000s to the early 1200s between the Iberian Peninsula and the olden Norwegian capital Nidaros, the present-day Trondheim. (more…)

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