The second day has common sections with the previous stage and a small road connection. The first kilometers are known and it is a mental help to overcome the Peña Umoma slope from Vado in the opposite direction. The exit from Cervera through the old town is comfortable and pleasant. And almost without pedaling we enter Vado, connect with the red milestones and begin the cycling adventure through the fields of the Valdeados plain. In reality, only the last kilometer is hard, we overcome the panoramic hill and stop at the La Estación viewpoint, always contemplating the magnificent rocky backdrop of the Curavacas peak in the background. In Dehesa de Montejo, the Perazancas de Ojeda alternative detour leaves and a new route begins through the towns and rural landscapes of La Ojeda. The rural road has a good surface and without stopping we reach Colmenares de Ojeda. The entrance to the church of San Fructuoso is fantastic, it has three arches with a cross vault and a Romanesque portico. The jewel is a baptismal font from the 12th century kept inside, one of the best of the Palencia Romanesque, it is a sandstone rock font carved with high reliefs of religious scenes and ceremonies. The towns are small, people barely appear on the streets, and it is surprising to find so much artistic wealth in each rural center.
The path does not have slopes as hard as the previous day, it is still a constant ups and downs through holm oak mountains, fallow lands and agricultural meadows but without slopes of five per hour. The valley of the Fuente de los Moros stream is delicious, the bicycles glide over the crops to Pisón de Ojeda. The church of San Pelayo dominates the town's plain from a hill, preserving the Romanesque apse from the 13th century. And then comes the hardest slope of the day, although it has a lot of uncomfortable gravel, it is short and immediately a new plateau appears with views and the descent to Montoto de Ojeda. The church is also on the hill of the town and we went straight up, shortcutting the milestones of the Natural Trail. The best part of the temple is the apse, from the 12th century, inside it has capitals and wall paintings. The portico is Cistercian from the 13th century, it is a temple that has more content than meets the eye. The route continues along the gravel road, jumps over the mountain through a plain of crops and descends to Perazancas de Ojeda. The parish church has a beautiful Romanesque doorway with three archivolts on carved capitals, from the 12th century. And at the exit of the town is the hermitage of San Pelayo, with interesting mural paintings from the 12th century and a portico with a semicircular arch on Mozarabic capitals, a valuable artistic complex declared a National Monument in 1931.
The red milestone posts continue towards the connection with the Coal Route of Cok and Cozuelos de Ojeda, returning directly towards Alar del Rey. The route leaves the Nature Trail for now and continues along the road towards Olmos de Ojeda. Before arriving, pass by the Monastery of Santa Eufemia, former residence of kings, princes and nobles, it is one of the most valuable monumental complexes of the Palencia Romanesque, it was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1931 and can be visited on weekends. The price of the visit is four euros per person. In Olmos de Ojeda the red indications appear again and shortly after the Payo de Ojeda variant appears. The town is on a hill along a lonely rural road of bowling alleys and boulders. The church is outside the hamlet, it has a walk of acacias and a beautiful doorway composed of a pointed arch and an archivolt, inside it houses a Romanesque baptismal font with carved ornaments. The route returns along the same path to the Olmos de Ojeda intersection and turns to the right to visit the last enclaves of the gravel journey through the Romanesque of Palencia. The first town is Moarves de Ojeda, which has one of the most precious jewels of the Palencia rural Romanesque in the façade of the church of San Juan Bautista, declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1931. The entrance has an elegant portico with five semicircular archivolts on capitals decorated with great detail and artistic level. The cake goes to the upper frieze, presided over by a Pantocrator surrounded by the tetramorphs and the twelve apostles, a marvel of Romanesque sculpture that especially attracts attention being in a small town in the Palencia wasteland. The attraction may also be due to the reddish color of the stone or the careful details of the sculptures. Inside it has a Romanesque baptismal font.
Translated by Google •
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