Pilgrims on the road and friends along the way send me changes every day, and they go out the same day. The Camino de Invierno app carries all of it offline, and it's still being built — new features arrive routinely.
Get the appObanos sits at the junction where the Camino Aragones merges with the Camino Frances — a meeting point of routes that has defined this village for centuries. It's a compact hilltop settlement of about 850 people, with narrow streets, stone houses bearing carved coats of arms, and a small plaza around the Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, a neo-Gothic church rebuilt in the early 20th century.
A couple of bars and a small shop serve pilgrims. There's an albergue in town. The Ermita de Arnotegui, about 2.5 km up the hill, serves as a viewpoint over the Valdizarbe valley — it's the hermitage where, according to legend, the remorseful Guillen lived out his days.
The village is best known for the Misterio de Obanos, a passion play performed every other year (even-numbered years, end of July) that tells the tale of San Guillen and Santa Felicia — a medieval fratricide and redemption story rooted in this village. Over 700 actors in period costumes perform the outdoor production, which has been running since 1965.
The Misterio de Obanos is performed at the end of July in even-numbered years — a large-scale theatrical production with hundreds of local participants in medieval costume. The village fiesta for San Juan Bautista is June 24.
The Misterio de Obanos dramatizes a 14th-century legend. Santa Felicia, sister of the Duke of Aquitaine, left home on pilgrimage to Santiago. She never returned — arriving in Obanos, she chose to stay and devote herself to helping pilgrims. Her brother Guillen came to bring her home, and when she refused, he killed her in a rage. Overcome with remorse, he completed her pilgrimage as penance, then retreated to the nearby Ermita de Arnotegui where he lived as a hermit for the rest of his days. The Iglesia de San Juan Bautista preserves what is claimed to be Guillen's skull.
The play was created by the local priest Santos Beguiristain in 1962 and first performed in 1965. It ran annually until 1977, drawing over 130,000 spectators in those years. It was revived and now runs biennially, with a cast of over 700 local volunteers wearing more than 1,000 handmade medieval costumes.
From Obanos the camino descends gently to Puente la Reina, about 2 km. Just outside Obanos, you'll see the monument marking the confluence of the Aragonés and Francés routes — from here onward there's a single Camino Francés all the way to Santiago.
20. October 2024 - 17:29
Amazing restaurant by the soccer field! 1000% recommend! Visit Bar Gazolaz for incredible food and hospitality! Homemade desserts. You won’t be disappointed!
5. May 2023 - 14:39
The prices need to be updated.
4. April 2022 - 10:24
Beautiful homes and well marked paths usher you through this nice town.
Esta entidad ha sido beneficiaria de una ayuda del Programa de incentivos a la movilidad eficiente y sostenible (MOVES III), gestionado por la Xunta de Galicia a través del Instituto Enerxético de Galicia (INEGA) en el marco del Real Decreto 266/2021, y cofinanciada por la Unión Europea — NextGenerationEU, dentro del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia.
