SECRETS NEVER DIE CHAPTER 44

AS THEY DESCENT MONTE del Perdon, the detective made an enigmatic comment.

— The Camino is a tribute to death and suffering.

— Have you already walked the Camino?

— It's my favorite place on vacation. I've already done the route from Roncesvalles to Santiago eleven times.

— Eleven times! — exclaimed Gregory, impressed.

— Yes. Eleven times, but it wasn't just for fun, my wife is an architecture professor and defended her master's thesis on the Muslim influence on the construction of the churches on the Camino. The first time I walked the Camino I was eighteen years old. We were a group of university students doing research for school work. At that time the route was poorly signposted and there were far fewer pilgrims than there are today.

Supporting themselves on their knees to avoid slipping on the rocky terrain of the descent, they exchanged opinions on the influence that the simple discovery of a tomb had on humanity.

Gabrielle once again took center stage in the conversation:

— It is estimated that during the period from the 10th to the 14th century approximately five hundred thousand people came annually from all corners of Europe to visit the relics of Saint James.

— My wife says that the Camino was a historical and hysterical phenomenon at the same time. Even today, for those who do it, the Camino is something inexplicable and unforgettable.

— Two interesting concepts. I liked.

— The hostel! The hostel created the Camino, marked its route and welcomed pilgrims who now had somewhere to rest and recover to face the next journey.

— It's quite possible that you're right, the hostel defines the Way.

— One of the things that impresses me most is the importance of the Path for the progress of humanity.

— Progress of humanity? — Gregory's thoughts strayed to another line of reasoning and the question didn't come out naturally.

— But of course! — exclaimed the Spanish detective and Gabrielle added:

— While Christians were obsessed with the fear of hell, the Arabs advanced in the studies of mathematics, physics, architecture, philosophy, literature, medicine and astronomy. When they invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 711, texts by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Hippocrates, Galen and great Arab doctors, such as Avicenna and Ali Abbas, written in Arabic and Hebrew, came to Spain. With the reconquest of the city of Toledo in 1085, these texts caught the attention of Christians and Jews. The bishop at the time created a group of translators that became known as the Toledo School of Translators.

Like a herald of all the wisdom of the Middle Ages, she stopped and turned to Gregory:

— Get it now? Upon arriving in the Iberian Peninsula, pilgrims came into contact with these translations and took them back to Paris, Rome, Amsterdam and other European centers. Classical culture had disappeared and the Camino resurrected it.

— In fact — said Théo Viana — the School of Translators provoked a cultural revolution on the continent. One pilgrim carried in his backpack a translation of Socrates, another of Plato, and thus Europe reestablished classical culture.

— From this aspect — praised Greg — the merit of the pilgrimage is undeniable.

— We cannot forget that Christianity held back the progress of humanity for more than a thousand years and, if it were not for the Way, this delay would be even greater.

— The fall of the Roman Empire left Europe without law and order.

— Yes! There was no longer an organized force to protect public order, and commerce and urban life weakened. Consequently, schools and cultural activities also declined and what remained revolved around Christianity. There was a belief that the world would disappear at the end of the first millennium and then kings and nobles began to build churches to be buried inside them.

— They believed that this way, they were closer to God.

— Fortunately, the world did not end at the end of the millennium, but religious power was consolidated, and churches and monuments continued to be built throughout Europe as proof of devotion, leading cathedrals and monasteries to compete in grandeur to attract pilgrims and donations. Until then, churches were smaller buildings and large temples were a new challenge that led builders to seek inspiration from the buildings of Rome, giving rise to the style that came to be called Romanesque.

— Don't get bored with the explanations, Mr. Evans, as they are important to understand the Way.

— By no means, all knowledge is wealth.

— The number of Romanesque monuments forms a rich conveyor belt of art. The Romanesque style was perfected and the tension arch emerged, in which one stone rests on another, allowing greater openings and giving rise to the Gothic style, which allowed for taller naves and larger windows with colored stained glass, bringing light into the spaces churches.

Gregory had a habit of trying to discover what was most serious about a simple conversation. It worried him that a senior police officer, involved in an investigation of mysterious crimes, would waste time in so many digressions. He didn't like that man, he didn't know him and he found the dialogue strange.

That immediately sent him to Marty, his assistant who would love to be chatting with this guy.

— In fact, the two styles show different ways of seeing God. Yes it is true! In the Romanesque period, the interior of churches has little light, so that people can meditate and feel the full strength of divinity. Gothic is cheerful, the windows are larger, and the light shows the human being as part of the divinity. In the Romanesque, man remains in darkness and God comes down to him. In Gothic, it is man who rises to the presence of God, through the light that floods the environment.

What could be behind this preaching? — thought Gregory, looking at the small village of Obanos at the top of the hill.