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MAGICAL BIERZO.
THE SECRET OF THE TEMPLARS
Molinaseca stands at the foot of the mountain pass, with
the sanctuary of the Virgin of Las Angustias (of anguish)
at its entrance. It is said that churchgoers and
harvesters alike would pull a splinter of wood from the
sanctuary door on their outward journey (a custom which
the pilgrims have taken up) and, on their return, they
would throw their sickles they had been working with
through the grating. After crossing the bridge, you will
come to the long Calle Real (Royal Street) flanked by many
buildings bearing coats of arms. A small channel runs
along this stony street, carrying clean water from the
river Miruelo and formerly used to keep the street clean.
This medieval system, which also existed in Puente la
Reina in Navarre, is still used in Molinaseca on the 15th
August, the last day of the village fiestas in honour of
the patron saint. The parish church is dedicated to St
Nicholas.
Ponferrada formerly boasted an
iron-reinforced granite bridge, constructed by order of bishop Osmundo and which
gave the town its name (Pons – ferrata or iron bridge).
The river Sil passes through the town, a tributary of the
river Miño (“the Miño carries the fame and the Sil
carries the water”). The town is protected by a
formidable Templar castle, constructed in 1178 and
offering a harmonious beauty that pleasantly surprises
visitors. The castle’s characteristics are of particular
interest to Templar scholars, starting with its size,
which is out of proportion to the small military command
based there and which, moreover, is far removed from any
war fronts. The castle holds several Signs
of Identification which appear in places of particular
spiritual importance, such as the triple wall (evoking the
three votes pronounced by the Knights), the Rose of the
initiated on the entrance door, the Baphomet and the Tau.
What is more, the twelve towers of the primitive fortress
imitate the lay-out of the twelve constellations or signs
of the zodiac. From this, the learned Luis San Juan has
used some complicated cabalistic - astronomical operations
to obtain the following phrase, which was written, so he
claims, on the building structure as a message to the
initiated: “En la taca que hay en la g de la ciudad
cava, se sale a la entrada del gran secreto”
This
circumstance,
along with the statement by Fulcanelli in his book on The Dwellings of the Philosophers (“The holy grail was guarded by
twelve Templar knights, this twelve-system protection
brings to mind the signs of the zodiac”) and the
tradition that affirms that the Templar knights found and
rescued the Ark of the Alliance from the underground ruins
of the Temple of Jerusalem, makes the fortress at
Ponferrada a possible hiding place for the two most famous
mythical objects in the history of humanity: the grail and
the ark.
From the book
“Curiosidades del Camino de Santiago”. by Juan Ramón
Corpas Mauleon. Published by Edilesa
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