It was so cool to see how the colours changed in a short time. We arrived at the parking plot between two little churches in the late afternoon but there was still an hour until Mister Sun had to depart. The sky was still so blue and matching the colour of the dome of San Bonifácio hermitage. {Well, the Spanish word is "ermita" which would be hermitage, but I would say it is a small church} Regardless of the name, hermitage or church, seems that it is a popular spot to come and take a walk. The little parking plot was full, but we had luck and found one place. From here we started our short walk, toward the other church, the old centre and a castle.
The rocky formation you see in the background is called Cid. There is a story that mentions a knight who saw himself threatened by the Muslims at the top of the Sierra del Caballo mountain. According to the legend he spurred his horse and launched himself in an impossible leap into the void and landed many kilometres from the mountain. The horse hit the rock with one of his hooves so hard that his footprint was stamped there forever. I don't know more about this legend I saw here, but a legend or not, it has an interesting shape.
From here we climbed a small path, still seeing the dome of San Bonifácio church but the position of the sun gave a different colour to the photo.
Just turning to the other side, we faced the next church, the hermitage of Holy Christ. I suppose that it was built in 1674, as the year indicates at the top of the front entrance. It was closed, but there is a small hole in the door. You can see the interior of the church through it. My friend who took me on this walk said that they come here to pray when someone is ill in the family.
When I thought that this was the end of the route and nothing was behind this little church, a new idea was proposed to me. Come, we are going to the city centre and the castle. The street that leads to it was behind the hermitage. We had to descend a few stairs and steep streets and indeed, we found ourselves in the narrow streets of this town. The type of architecture was nothing different from the other villages of this region, so it didn't catch my attention, but one wall yes.
It was a wall with several murals on it. But I will not describe them, as I want to make a small guessing game. For so long time I didn't do any of these games, but I think it is time to bring it back on this occasion. So, my question is what connects all these paintings and why? A small reward will fly to the wallet of the user who brings the correct answer first.
From the narrow streets and this mural, we found the path that was leading to the castle. Unfortunately, it was already closed, so we could see just the exterior of it.
Maybe it is not really interesting to see just the exterior walls... But the only way to enter is to go on a guided tour, which we missed as it lasts for 3 hours. We didn't have that much time. However, being there on that little square outside of the castle was rewarding too, as we could observe the town, the mountains, the sunset and even a cute pigeon came close to us. His wings were painted in several colours. There were two of them, the other was black but also with colourful wings. I took the photo just of this one.
The sun was setting slowly and we decided to go back to the car and later drive home. The short walk gave different things to see - a few small churches, the castle, the pigeon, the painted wall (don't forget to try to give an answer - what connects all those paintings on the wall and why ;) ) and the sunset.
The church was now illuminated by the lamps and not by the sun. The colour of the sky also changed, covering itself with a darker blanket, ready to bring the nighttime to the citizens of this inland Spanish town, Petrel.
