Logbook · 3 places

What to see and do in Hontanas

What to see and do in Hontanas (Odra-Pisuerga, Burgos): 3 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Nature · 1 Activities

Towns near Hontanas

Spain › Castile and León › Burgos › Odra-Pisuerga › Hontanas

What to see and do in Hontanas

Hontanas
Village
Hontanas is a hamlet in the Burgos district of Odra-Pisuerga, 42 kilometres from the provincial capital, hidden in a hollow along the Camino Francés, with only 69 inhabitants; its name, “fontanas”, recalls the numerous springs that made it a village of charm and romantic scenery. The Camino de Santiago became established in this area in the 12th century, under the reign of Alfonso VII, as part of a feudalisation of the territory whose closest expression was the founding, in 1146, of the convent of San Antón, between Hontanas and neighbouring Castrojeriz, the head town of the alfoz to which the area belonged in the Early Middle Ages. Its church of the Inmaculada Concepción holds a Baroque altarpiece by the highland sculptor Fernando de la Peña, and the village preserves old washhouses and a medieval palace.
The valley of the springs
Nature
The village hides in a hollow that is not seen until one is upon it, surrounded by hills and springs: its name comes from the Latin fontanas, and that abundant water was the reason for the pilgrims' halt.
The hospital of San Juan, a hostel since the Middle Ages
Activity
Rehabilitated and open all year, the old medieval hospital also called Mesón de los Franceses still takes in pilgrims; it preserves its original Gothic arch and the silos dug beneath the floor.