The enigmatic Burgalese Bureba.

The Game of the Goose, metaphorically speaking, induces me to continue playing; and in doing so, it indicates a province full of history, mysteries and beauty: Burgos. And within his administration, he suggests that I make my way through a region where the geese made countless riddles in the stone.

Keys that in many cases have been lost, although there is, fortunately, some but loose; some indication of that ancient wisdom; somewhere to meditate and revitalize ideas. The region to which I refer is La Bureba. And the place, this mysterious Sanctuary of Santa Casilda.

The Sanctuary of Santa Casilda is approximately fifteen kilometers from Briviesca, and about seven or eight kilometers from Revillalcón, a small rural town, which recommends a visit to its parish church, which still conserves interesting Romanesque elements, although its structure is not in the best conditions, threatening ruin in some points.

Located in a wild place, although not exempt of wild beauty, it is seen in the distance crowning a rocky promontory, from which one has an impressive general perspective.

To the point, that a simple glance is enough to suspect, in times, a Celtiberian presence in the surroundings, not exempt, as well, from the existence of druidic cults that, like in many other peninsular places, were conveniently masked and Christianized.

Such elements, at least consigned in their basic form, we would locate them easily in the forest, in the source, in the pond and in the tree -or rather, in what remains of its trunk-, located, in this case, in a small meadow that is at the foot of the promontory on whose summit, as I said, rises the structure of the sanctuary.

Even there, there is no lack of the cave -called San Vicente, as the sacred source to which I referred earlier- inside which we can see that paradigmatic and Celtic feature, which has remained anchored in the collective memory of the inhabitants. villages, as is the custom of offering perks - in this case, coins, with a five-euro bill included, in an anecdotal way - to a Christian saint, a substitute for the ancient sources and wells.

Although in its beginnings, the sanctuary must have constituted just a small hermitage, Romanesque for more signs, of this there is no trace at present.

However, in its cover, neoplateresca at least, are defined to perfection the basic elements that summarize the history of this curious saint of Moorish origins, which has a great devotion of the people of the surroundings, and in whose miracle the Virgin -she said comparatively and without the intention of disturbing anyone's personal beliefs- she performed a Eucharistic miracle, transforming the loaves with which she stealthily fed the Christian prisoners, for roses when the father surprised her.

The chronicles tell us-if we can talk about chronicles-that she fell ill, the benefactress Casilda converted to the Christian faith and retired to this place, where she died in the odor of sanctity.

Here arises another reference that I consider convenient to take into account, because there have been antecedents in pagan cults: the votive offerings. They are located in a small house that the visitor finds before arriving at the church.
Inside and occupying the center of the room, a statue of Santa Casilda reclining prevails on walls full of pictures and what I have to assume certificates, replacing the old votive offerings -belts, crutches, orthopedic limbs, etc.- as yet can be seen in some rural churches, remember the ancient cult of Diana, whose shrines-or at least, more than one-have found pieces of pottery representing different parts of the body, supposedly healed through the Goddess.

In short, a place not only interesting and respectful, but also a special place, a place of the spirit where you can relax and think that, after all, there are still more than enough details to think that there is nothing new under the sun.

NOTICE: Originally published in my blog RECUERDOS DE UN PEREGRINO. Both the text and the accompanying photographs are my exclusive intellectual property. The original entry, where you can check the authorship of juancar347, can be found at the following address: https://jc347.blogspot.com/2012/01/un-santuario-en-la-bureba-santa-casilda.html