Manjarín

Manjarin sits in the province of Leon at around 1,500 metres altitude on the Montes de Leon, between Cruz de Ferro and El Acebo. It is a tiny mountain hamlet, first mentioned in written records in 1180, that has been nearly abandoned for most of the 20th century. The Camino runs through what remains of the village.

In medieval times Manjarin had a pilgrim hospital established alongside the lodgings at Foncebadon and the cross at Cruz de Ferro, all attributed to the hermit Gaucelmo. After the medieval pilgrim economy declined, the village emptied. By the late 20th century, only stone ruins and a few crumbling houses remained. In 1993, a man named Tomas Martinez de Paz moved to Manjarin, restored an abandoned schoolhouse, and established the Templar Refuge of Manjarin. Tomas, a former soldier with a deep belief in the Camino, lived in the hamlet for decades dressed in the white robes and red cross of the medieval Knights Templar. He founded what he called the Order of the Resurgent Temple, kept the bell ringing for arriving pilgrims, served simple coffee and food, and put up a hand-painted wooden direction post outside the refuge with distances to Santiago, Rome, Jerusalem, and other sacred destinations around the world. He became an iconic figure of the modern Camino. Following his death, a funeral was held at the Basilica de la Encina in Ponferrada and his ashes were scattered at Manjarin.

Services in Manjarin are unreliable. The Templar Refuge offered basic shelter (no water, no electricity) at a donativo rate when Tomas was running it, but the refuge's current operating status should be verified locally before relying on it. The famous direction post outside the refuge remains in place and is a popular photo stop for pilgrims. There is no shop, no bar, no pharmacy, no ATM, and no other accommodation in Manjarin.