Tábara

Tabara is a small town with a big history. The municipal albergue here is one of the standouts on the entire Via de la Plata -- well-maintained, welcoming, and a natural place to end a long first day from Granja de Moreruela.

The town's claim to fame is the Monasterio de San Salvador de Tabara, or more precisely, what was produced inside it. In the 10th century, the monastery's scriptorium -- housed in a tall stone tower -- was one of the most important manuscript workshops in medieval Europe. It was here that the monk Magius, and later his disciple Emeterius, created the illuminated Beatus of Tabara, a commentary on the Book of Revelation that is now held in the National Historical Archive in Madrid. The manuscript's most famous page is a miniature of the scriptorium tower itself -- the oldest known image of a scriptorium in all of medieval European art. Emeterius described it in the colophon: 'Oh high and stony tower of Tabara, the first room where Emeterius sat bent over for three months and with all his limbs brandished the pen.'

The tower still stands, attached to the Iglesia de Santa Maria. It's Mozarabic in origin and visible from a distance as you approach town. The rest of the monastery is gone, but the tower is reason enough to stop.

Beyond the albergue, Tabara has bars, a shop, a pharmacy, and a bank. It's the last town with reliable services before Santa Croya de Tera.