Hospital de Órbigo

Hospital de Orbigo sits in the province of Leon on the banks of the river Orbigo. It is the point where the two variants of the Camino out of Leon rejoin, the northern through San Martin del Camino and the southern through Villar de Mazarife. The town takes its name from the medieval pilgrim hospital founded here in the 12th century by the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers, who guarded the river crossing and cared for travellers on the pilgrim road.

The defining feature of the town is the medieval bridge, the Puente del Paso Honroso, the Bridge of the Honourable Passage. The current Romanesque-medieval bridge was built in the 13th century on Roman foundations laid for the Via Aquitana, the Roman road that connected Astorga with Tarraco. It stretches roughly 200 metres in twenty surviving arches and ranks among the longest medieval bridges in Spain. Its second name comes from the most famous event ever held on it. In the Holy Year of 1434, a Leonese knight named Suero de Quinones, suffering an unrequited love for Dona Leonor de Tobar and wearing an iron collar every Thursday as a token of his devotion, petitioned King Juan II for the right to defend the bridge against all comers and break three hundred lances in honour of his lady. Permission was granted. Suero and nine companions set themselves up at the bridge from 10 July to 9 August 1434, jousting sixty-eight challenging knights from across Europe and breaking around two hundred lances. At the end of the month Suero declared his vow fulfilled, removed his iron collar, and walked the Camino to Santiago to lay a thank-offering at the apostle's tomb. The story was referenced by Cervantes in Don Quixote a century and a half later. The town hosts a recreated medieval tournament on the bridge each June.

Hospital de Orbigo has the full range of services for pilgrims. There are albergues including the Parroquial Karl Leisner and private albergues, plus hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars, supermarkets, a pharmacy, ATMs, and medical services. Most pilgrims overnight here before pushing on to Astorga.