Trobajo del Camino (León) (0)

Did you know that... Trobajo del Camino

It is located between the Santiago stream and the Fontanillas stream, both tributaries of the Bernesga river. Trobajo del Camino is now part of the municipality of San Andrés del Rabanedo, being the most populated. There is reason to believe that the first human settlements may date back to the Palaeolithic period. It is known, from the remains found in the locality, of the existence of a Roman villa located near one of the springs around which, some time later, the village also developed. But the oldest history relates Trobajo del Camino to the astures, although its greatest historical boom reached in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries due to its good location on the Jacobean route, coming to have several hospitals to care for the many pilgrims who passed through here. The four villages that currently make up the municipality formed in 1525 the Brotherhood of Bernesga de Abajo to defend their collective interests.

To discover What to see in Trobajo del Camino?

In Trobajo del Camino, and located along the route of the Way, is the hermitage of Santiago, rebuilt and consecrated in 1777 in the same place as the previous existing in the Middle Ages and had a hospital for pilgrims, inside keeps a baroque image of Santiago Matamoros on his white horse. The parish church of San Juan Bautista dates from the end of the 18th century at the beginning of the 19th century and is built in stone and brick. Curiously, crowning the belfry that presides over the main façade there is a weather vane with the name of the village and under it two bells, one dedicated to the titular saint, San Juan Bautista and the other to José and María. Next to the church you can see the Casona de los Centeno, which is an 18th century palace house. In the street known as Way of the Cross, between Trobajo del Camino and La Virgen del Camino, there are the remains of an old transept, and from the Viewpoint of the Cross, located on a small hill, you can enjoy the panoramic view of the municipality and the city of León. The wineries on the way up the Camino de la Cruz, are relatively young, more or less from the late nineteenth century, today most of these buildings are used for the leisure of owners and their family gatherings.

Festivities

Trobajo del Camino celebrates its festivities on July 25 in honour of Santiago, this day the image of the saint, which is kept in the chapel of his name, is processioned through the streets of the village. In spring, without a fixed month, it can be May or June, the pilgrimage of San Isidoro is made.​

Traditions

The neighbours of the village of Trobajo, accompanied by banners, have recovered the tradition of going on pilgrimage every year to the place where the disappeared hermitage of San Isidoro del Monte was located. This traditional celebration, in which offerings and prayers commemorated the miracle that it rained by the work and grace of San Isidoro, took place every year and for centuries in this hermitage until it was declared in ruins and passed on to the Virgen del Camino.

Curiosities

The name Trobajo is shared by three León towns that are close to each other: Trobajo del Camino or from above, Trobajo del Cerecedo or from below and Trobajuelo, a neighbourhood of Vega de Infanzones, and it seems to derive from the name of a medieval Jew who lived here at that time.

The Legend

Legend has it that back in the 12th century there was a great drought that did not allow the preparation of the fields to give their crops, so the inhabitants of the area came up with the idea of asking San Isidoro to intercede and to this end they took out the body of the saint in procession fervently asking him to rain. When they reached the top of the Viewpoint of the Cross, suddenly it began to rain at the same time that the body of San Isidoro became so heavy that among all those who were there and many more people who approached could not move it, then to guard the saint was formed around a camp and people began to fast and pray to see if they could get it to their basilica in Leon. There were four children, who, as if by divine grace, succeeded and in the place where St. Isidore wanted to stand, a hermitage was built which they called St. Isidore del Monte.