The city of El Cid is a town of mysteries. Burgos hides secrets between the walls of its cathedral and under the tiles of its streets. Starting with city name, which does not come from the term ‘burgo’, like the other Jacobean populations. Its origin is in the pluralization of ‘burg’, from the Greek pyrgos, which means tower or fortification.
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Five mysteries of Burgos
Burgos is a city of pilgrims, and throughout the Middle Ages, merchants and those who made the Camino de Santiago, left their mark on the history of the town. In its streets, we can see the facades of what were the houses of the nobles, who previously shared the street with hospitals and shelters. The history of the city is marked by the magic and the enigma of the Middle AgesAnd for this reason, today we bring you five mysteries of Burgos to better understand everything that these streets hide.
The erased face of the cathedral
The high cloister of the cathedral de Burgos is a space that was used for various functions: from burials to being a place where liturgical celebrations were held. In it, there is a human figure, which visitors do not usually repair. It’s about a bust with face erased. This figure keeps José Antonio Gárate, a graduate in Humanities, who has worked in the cathedral since 2003 intrigued.
The bust could be a cleric or a monk, as he wears a dark outfit, and is also the only black painted figure in the cathedral. At first glance, it seems that the stone deteriorated over time, but after investigating, Gárate discovered that it was deliberately erased to avoid superstition. Tool marks appear on the face, which is the only damaged part of the figure, a sign that someone intentionally scratched the figure. In addition, the humanist discovered in a 1600 record that the council ordered the face of a figure removed at the entrance to the cloister to avoid superstition. Would this be the figure you were referring to?
Flycatcher
The Flycatcher It is one of the major tourist attractions of the Burgos Cathedral. It is a figure that open and close your mouth when the clock strikes the hours, but which also houses a romantic legend. The Flycatcher was a work commissioned by the king Enrique III ‘El Doliente’, who came every day to pray at the cathedral. One day he noticed a young woman who prayed at the grave of Ferrán González, but did not dare to address her until several days later, when she dropped a handkerchief next to the king. When the girl left, the king heard a painful lament, and from then on the young woman did not go to the cathedral again.
When the king asked about her, he discovered that no one lived in the house where he saw her enter, because all its inhabitants died with the black plague. Therefore, the monarch he had a clock built for the cathedral, which resembled the face of the young woman and emit a lament like the one she heard when the clock struck the hours. But the sculptor could not capture the face of the young woman, and only managed to make the doll give a squawk, so that years later, the sound disappeared.
Legend of Doña Lambra and the Seven Infants of Lara
Gonzalo Gústioz, Señor de Salas, was married to Doña Sancha, and together they had seven children: the infants of Lara. At Ruy Velázquez’s wedding, Doña Sancha’s brother, with Doña Lambra, the bride’s family members clashed with Lara’s infants. A cousin of Doña Lambra died at the hands of Gonzalillo, the youngest of the seven infants. After some time, the boy was seen by Doña Lambra bathing naked, so she sent her servant to humiliate him. But Gonzalillo reacted and killed the servant.
Meanwhile, the seven brothers had been led into an ambush before Muslim troops, where were beheaded. By Ruy Velázquez’s order, they sent the heads to Córdoba, where they were hung in front of their parents’ house. Señor de Salas, during his captivity, had a son with another woman. Over the years, this boy avenged the death of his brothers, killing Ruy Velázquez and burning the palace of doña Lambra with her inside.
The murder in El Cid’s grave
In the cathedral of Burgos we can find the tomb of the Castilian hero El Cid, where a murder occurred. In 1869, the Government had ordered the seizure of the church archives. The civil governor of the city went to the cathedral accompanied only by a police inspector. There, protesters were found outside, who managed to enter the cathedral by knocking down one of the doors. Inside, one of the assailants hit the governor with a hammer, and then strangled and smashed his skull on the steps of the cathedral.
Mystery of the hidden crypt
In the center of the heart of Burgos, in the chestnut square, hides a secret: a crypt. They are the remains of the primitive church of San Llorente, ordered to be built by Fernán González. In 2008, the renovation works on this street brought to light the walls of this temple, which dates back to the 11th century. During some works in the 80s, remains of the temple were discovered, but they were considered of little value and the construction of the building continued.
Through the building demolished in the 1980s, there was an underground passageway leading to the crypt. But with its destruction and subsequent work, there is no longer a way to access the room that communicated with the building, where a half-barrel vault was located. Furthermore, it is believed that under this temple, there is still older architectural remains, from a newer church than the one that was discovered and was buried by concrete.
Tags: burgos, Cathedral, stories, Legends, mysteries
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