Camino Gourmet 
The wine of your stage
Santo Domingo de la Calzada
Arriving to Santo Domingo de la Calzada, you will be at the gates of Castilla-Leon, the community where nearly half of the kilometers are taken. You will finally forget walking uphill and downhill, because it begins to be replaced by wide plains of farmland. You will face an easy stage, just 21 kilometers in which the only difficulty will be looking for a shadow if you are in one of the hottest months.
The first village you’ll reach is Azofra. It will be a good moment to take a snack and fill the canteen because we have no opportunity to do it for 10 kilometers, in Cirueña.
Santo Domingo de la Calzada is a very hospitable city, as has historically been a city dedicated to the pilgrim. It was built around 1040 to try to improve the difficulties of pilgrims to pass through the área. Its founder, Domingo Garcia, ordered the construction of a bridge to save the river Oca and a pilgrim hospital. It was an improvement in the path. So Santo Domingo de la Calzada is a city built by and for the Way. Here, several miracles are attributed. The most famous is the hen miracle. Santo Domingo de la Calzada, donde cantó la gallina después de asada (‘Santo Domingo de la Calzada, where the hen sang after being roasted”). Today, Santo Domingo remains to be a gracious city with the pilgrim, offering free services like its hostel managed by a group of volunteers.
You can’t say goodbye to La Rioja without tasting Patatas a la riojana (Rioja style potatoes) and good lamb chops grilled over vine shoots. La Rioja cuisine also offers abundant vegetables, but don’t miss the opportunity to try some of their magnificent sweets.
