Villafranca del Bierzo Travel Guide

Villafranca del Bierzo, is the last stage on the pilgrimage route in El Bierzo before we reach Galicia. It is another settlement that developed from the pilgrimages, was inhabited by Franks and stood in the shelter of a Cluniac monastery. When sick pilgrims reached the (12c) Church of Santiago at the entrance of the borough, they were allowed to consider themselves entitled to jubilee, as the "Door of Forgiveness", framed by four pairs of columns on the northern entrance was endowed with the same spiritual grace as that of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela for those pilgrims who found it impossible to continue and is unique as being the only place along the Pilgrim's Route that offers this indulgence to the sick and infirm. The pilgrims set out again with the fortress on their left, down the street of El Agua -which still has a medieval atmosphere today- and left Villafranca by the bridge across the Burbia