Hospitales del Palo

The place, without a current population centre, preserves the ruins of three medieval hospices —⁠Hospital del Fanfaraón, Hospital de Valparaíso and Hospital de Paradiella⁠— founded between the 12th and 14th centuries to welcome the Primitivo pilgrims at one of the most exposed points of the Camino: the top of the Palo pass, at 1,146 metres above sea level, frequently closed by snow between November and April. The function was literally vital: the pilgrim who crossed in winter without a roof to shelter under could die of hypothermia. The three hospices functioned simultaneously from the late Middle Ages, maintained by donations and by the Order of Santiago, until the 18th century when rural depopulation and the disappearance of the pilgrim flow made them unviable. Today their bare walls peek out among the high grass and the heather, beside the path. The name del Palo alludes to the wooden mark that signalled the top of the pass —⁠a geographical reference of the walkers since before there were marked roads.