Villadangos del Páramo

Villadangos del Páramo is a Leonese town set on the flat plain of the Páramo, a stop on the French Way during the stage that leads from León towards Astorga. Its most distinctive monument is the parish Church of Santiago, whose Baroque belfry, raised between the 17th and 18th centuries, bears reliefs depicting the Battle of Clavijo and the appearance of the Apostle Santiago to King Ramiro I; inside it preserves an altarpiece with a remarkable equestrian carving of Santiago, sword raised, recalling to the pilgrim the deep Jacobean roots of the place. The town's name is also tied to the battle of 1111, when the troops of Queen Urraca and those of her husband Alfonso I of Aragón clashed in its fields. On the outskirts, the Villadangos Lagoon, included in the regional catalogue of wetlands, shelters numerous birds and amphibians. The walker finds here a pilgrim hostel and basic services in a setting of wide horizons and open skies, characteristic of the Leonese Páramo. Villadangos del Páramo is one of those discreet stops dotting the crossing of the meseta, where devotion to Santiago becomes especially visible before tackling the final stages towards Compostela.