Reliegos

Reliegos sits in the province of Leon on the southern variant of the Camino, on the line of an old Roman road. The current name derives from the Latin religo, to regather or reunite, a reference to the resettlement of the village after the Moorish invasions of the 8th century. The village reappears in written records in the testament of King Ordono II of Leon in the 10th century.

Long before the medieval Camino, this site was a Roman crossroads settlement, sometimes identified with the Roman Pallantia, where several calzadas converged. It was sacked by the Visigoths in the 5th century and resettled in the early Middle Ages under the kings of Leon. The parish church is dedicated to Saints Cyprian and Cornelius, two early martyrs of the Roman church, and dates back in some form to the 10th century. The most distinctive feature of the village today is the cluster of bodegas dug into the low hill on the edge of town: underground wine cellars in brick and adobe, in use for centuries to store wine and as gathering places. The other piece of village lore is more unusual. On the morning of 28 December 1947, at 8:30 am, a 17 kilogram meteorite fell on Calle Real, the main street, sinking 35 centimetres into the ground. It broke into three pieces, and fragments are now held by the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid. It remains the last documented meteorite fall in Spain. A small monument in the village marks the event.

Services in Reliegos are pilgrim-focused. There are albergues including the well-known Don Gaiferos, bar-restaurants, and a small shop. The Bar Elvis is a Camino institution and a stop many pilgrims remember from this part of the route. There is no pharmacy or ATM. Medical services are limited.