First Stage: 38km route starting at The Monastery of San Pedro Cardeña and finishing at the Medieval Village of Covarrubias.
The Noble Knight Rodrigo Diaz was born not far from the city of Burgos. He earned great fame fighting alongside the Kings of Castile in the middle of the 11th Century however he had several disputes with the ruling King as he often in battle acted alone or disrespecting the Kings wishes and thus he was exiled on two occasions and had no choice but to became a mercenary often fighting with or against the Caliphate’s Armies. Rodrigo Diaz was named “el Cid” by the Moors as he begun to conquer cities and territories in Al Andalus of his own accord without the blessing of any King. Infact he independently conquered the Mediterranean City of Valencia in 1094 and proclaimed himself Prince Rodrigo Campeador “El Cid”. Before he died he had cleverly married his two daughters to very prominent nobles thus assuring his blood line in the Spanish Royal lineage.
The Legendary “El Cid” is one of the most popular Spanish epic heroes and even more so in Burgos. Although there is a lot of controversy over his motivations and feats there is no doubt about his legendary talent on the battle field and thus his given title of “el Campeador” which literally means expert in open battle field tactics. Legendary is also the almost never ending journey made by his bones after his death. Initially he was buried in Valencia, however two years later his remains where taken by his wife to the Monastery of San Pedro Cardeña in Burgos. There he was changed place on several occasions over the centuries before been taken in 1808 by Napoleon’s soldiers during the war of independence and buried in the city of Burgos. He was reburied in the same monastery a few years later and then moved back to the town hall after the sacking of the monastery in 1842. Finally in 1921 his remains were buried with those of his wife in the Cathedral of Burgos.
Stage 1 Starts at the Monastery of San Pedro Cardeña and initially follows the historic route taken by “El Cid” on his exile from Castille to Valencia. The ondulating path passes through several villages and crosses through a thick dwarf oak forrest before passing by the Megalithic Dolmen of Cubillejo de Lara. The stage then crosses the main road to Soria before climbing up to the “Castillejo” at 1336m above sea level and then finally descends to the historic mediaval village of Covarrubias.
The Druids at the opening Ceremony
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