Carrión de los Condes, named for the Counts of Carrión from the Cantar de Mio Cid, was once a major Camino hub with 14 pilgrim hospitals. Today it has multiple albergues, hotels, restaurants, cafés, supermarkets, a pharmacy, ATMs, and a bus stop.
Carrión de los Condes sits in the province of Palencia, on the Tierra de Campos plateau at the western edge of the meseta. It is one of the most significant stops on the Camino Frances and has been a major pilgrim town since the Middle Ages. The town takes its name from the Counts of Carrión, the sons-in-law of El Cid who feature in the Cantar de Mio Cid, the great medieval Spanish epic poem.
Pilgrims have passed through here for nearly a thousand years. At its height in the 12th and 13th centuries the town had around 10,000 inhabitants and supported 14 pilgrim hospitals, making it one of the largest and wealthiest stops on the entire route to Santiago. Today the population is closer to 2,000, but much of the historic core remains. The Iglesia de Santiago has a Romanesque frieze above its doorway showing the 24 elders of the Apocalypse, considered one of the finest pieces of Romanesque sculpture in Spain. The Iglesia de Santa María del Camino has a Romanesque doorway depicting the legend of the Tribute of the Hundred Maidens. The Real Monasterio de Santa Clara still operates as an active convent and holds a small museum of medieval art. The Monasterio de San Zoilo, now run as a hotel, has a Plateresque cloister that can be visited without staying.
Carrión has full services: multiple albergues, hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, cafés, bars, supermarkets, a pharmacy, ATMs, medical care, and a bus stop. The Albergue Parroquial Santa María, run by Augustinian sisters from April to October, is one of the most well-known albergues on the entire Camino Frances for its evening singing and pilgrim blessing. The Albergue Espíritu Santo and the Albergue del Convento de Santa Clara also offer beds within the historic centre.
The stretch out of Carrión is one of the most demanding of the meseta. The path follows the line of the Via Aquitana, an old Roman road, across open farmland for 17 kilometres before reaching the next services at Calzadilla de la Cueza. There are no villages, no cafés, and very little shade. Plan accordingly.
Every kind of bed in one place: online booking, direct-contact albergues, walk-ins and donativos. Live prices for your night.
The Camino through town, with prices where the beds are. Amber is the route; each pin is a place to stay.
Our Koala Picks first, then donativos, albergues and hostels, hotels, and everything else. Within each group the best-reviewed places lead.
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