Following in the Footsteps of the Templars: Mysteries, Symbols, and Legends in the Merindades of Bur

One of the great adventures that arise from cultural travel, in particular, is that in which, even if carried by speculation, we are subtly invited to try to penetrate, even if only illusorily, the great enigmas of the past.

These tend to be more intense, and why not say it, also more frustrating, when the generally impenetrable shadow of a medieval religious-military order looms, an order that was conveniently and unjustly suppressed in the 14th century: the Knights Templar.

Although not all historians agree on the importance that their presence truly had in Spain—since where the lack of historical documentation leads the scientific method to look elsewhere—it is certain that this Order, which apparently originated in Jerusalem to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land, had a significant presence in Spain.

And part of that renown was not only preserved, in the form of symbolism, in the places they inhabited, but was also remembered by the people in the form of legends and traditions, which, in many cases, when the foundations of History began to be affected by the solid presence of the metaphorical cement of objectivity, were discarded and dismissed as fantasy.

To speak, therefore, of the Order of the Temple is not only to speak of the merit that these soldiers of Christ had at the forefront of the Christian armies in the main battles that defined the destiny of this country we now call Spain, but also of the important work they carried out in the protection and assistance of the pilgrims who, by the thousands, traveled along the dusty and difficult roads, on a transcendental journey that, for some, did not end in Santiago de Compostela, but a few kilometers further on: on the shores of that northern place, where past civilizations located the end of the world. That is to say, at Cape Finisterre.

One of the places, where, both through its names and its traditions, and through those silent traces that we can somehow assume were left inscribed on the sculptures of its temples, it is located within that collection of spectacular lands and ancestral enigmas that, even at this point in the 21st century, continue to be the Merindades of Burgos.

There, in the Merindad of Mena, near places whose names are suspiciously intriguing, such as Criales, or ports like The Magdalene, stands out a particular temple, which we have already had the opportunity to visit, in which to give free rein to the present speculation: the Church of Saint Lawrence of Vallejo.

The name of Saint Lawrence is also associated with another event that supposedly fueled the Templars' transcendent quest: the Holy Grail. This object, considered in part to be the cup Christ used at the Last Supper, was placed in safekeeping by him in the 4th century, before Alaric's barbarians conquered proud Rome. For centuries, it was kept in the monastery of San Juan de la Peña until its final transfer to the cathedral of Valencia during the reign of King Martin the Humane.

It is said that this place was donated by a noblewoman named Doña Endrequina—whose tombstone, along with that of her husband, is located inside—to Jerusalem, thus beginning part of an enigma. This, combined with the curious sculptures, especially those on the interior capitals, allows us to form a rough idea of ​​why this temple, in addition to its harmonious beauty, so captivates admirers of the Knights Templar.

This is even more evident, if possible, not only in a curious capital near the church choir, depicting two knights fighting on horseback, one of them bearing a cross on his shield, but also in another capital located further on, which shows a boat with nine curious figures aboard, at the head of them all, a figure wearing a crown.

And so, apart from other aspects, as an allusion by Christ to his Apostles, making them undeniable "fishers of men," we can see in this scene the voyage overseas of those mysterious first nine knights who appeared at the court of King Baldwin in Jerusalem. They were granted the land occupied by the stables of the ancient Temple of Solomon and were the origin of an order that, despite everything, continues to stir passions because of its history, its secrets, and its grandeur.

NOTICE: Both the text and the accompanying photographs are my exclusive intellectual property and are therefore subject to my copyright.

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