Day 23

Sometimes you can tell a lot about a place from its name, sometimes nothing at all. Sometimes the names are just beautiful or really fun to say. Here are some of my favorite Camino names so far. If you read them all together, out loud, and fast, the person next to you will think you are reciting a poem!

Zubiri - Basque name

Urdaniz - fun to say

Larrasona - Basque

Akerreta - fun to say

Zariquigui - very pretty but impossible for me to say

Muruzabel - sounds like the female villain from a foreign soap opera

Cirauqui - Basque for “nest of vipers”!

Villatuerta - Latin for “twisted village”

Los Arcos - Spanish for “the bows” because the town was won in battle

Nájera, Azofra, Villa de Mazariffe - all Arabic names

Cardeñuela de Riopico - fewer people in this town than letters in the name

Hontanas - from the Italian (fontanas) for “fountain”

Castrojeriz - fun to say

Calzadilla de la Cueza - There’s a lot of these “calzadillas”, means “little road”

Terradillos de los Templarios - Spanish for “small Templar terraces”

Mansilla de las Mulas - names after some mule markets!

O Cebreiro - fun to say

Eirexe - Galego/Galician for “church”

I’m glad my guidebooks provide the origins of the words. You can really see how all the cultures that are here, were here for a long time, or just passed through, all got to name something.