Distance: 21 km / 13 miles
Stage Eleven Villages
Najera, Azofra, Ciruena, Santo Domingo de la Calzada
Watch for:
Azofra – Warning! Leaving Azofra, there are 9.7 km / 6 mi without services.
Cirueña – This is where that golf course and ghost town are. Strange place.
Santo Domingo de la Calzada – Chicken legend. Live chickens are kept outside the church. Legend has it a young man spurned a woman, and to retaliate, she hid silver in his bag & accused him of theft. He was sentenced to hang, but his parents found him alive & he claimed the saints held him up. The parents went to the magistrate to get his sentence revoked, and the magistrate said, “He is no more alive than this roast chicken I’m about to eat.” At which time the chicken came to life, feathers and all, and walked away.
Santo Domingo de la Calzada – Food! Shops sell pastries in the shapes of hens and roosters.
Market – every Saturday on the Plaza Jacobea a few blocks from the cathedral.
Festival – Fiesta de Gracias Sept. 18.
Restaurant recommendations (by Beebe) – Restaurante Los Caballeros: right on the Camino. Best local produce and Riojan classics. €30
Casa Amparo: a local’s traditional eatery. Salads and trad dishes. €14-15.
La Gallina Que Cantó (the hen who sang): Roasted meat cooked tableside & fresh vegetable dishes. €12.