Refugio Gaucelmo at Rabanal del Camino
Until 1991, there was no proper accommodation for pilgrims on the exposed and rugged 54 km stretch of the Camino between Astorga and Ponferrada - the passage across the mountains of León.
The Confraternity, in association with the El Bierzo association of Friends of the Camino, converted the old parish house at Rabanal del Camino for use as a refugio (hostel), and continues to administer the Refugio and the provision of hospitaleros (wardens) during the season from late March until the end of October.
The Refugio - in common with others - offers accommodation to bona fide pilgrims only.
In 1997 Refugio Gaucelmo was awarded the first Premio Elías Valiña, established in memory of the parish priest of O Cebreiro who pioneered the late 20th century revival of the pilgrimage, and awarded each year to the pilgrim association judged to have contributed most to the pilgimage.
The day-to-day costs of the Refugio are largely met from pilgrims' donations, but the Appeal established for the initial conversion is still open to help us pay for the regular maintenance and further development of the Refugio, and we should welcome any help you care to give (how to contact us).
The volunteer wardens - usually but not exclusively members of the Confraternity - generally stay for two weeks at a time, should have made the pilgrimage, and should have adequate command of Spanish (French and German are also helpful). If you would like to be considered as a possible warden, please e-mail the Rabanal Wardens' Coordinator (We have a full complement of hospitaleros for 2007, but always welcome enquiries from those interested for the reserve list, or for future years).
For an account by one of our members of his first experierence of the hospitalero role (at Castrojeriz), click here.
We welcome some 8,000 pilgrims each year, and have welcomed more than 91,500 pilgrims since we opened. We keep a record of the numbers of pilgrims staying at the Refugio, their countries of origin, and their means of making the pilgrimage. To see the statistics, click here.
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During the winter 1999-2000, three young monks, originally from Santo Domino de Silos, and now affiliated to Sankt Ottiliens Erzabtei in Germany, established themselves next door to Refugio Gaucelmo, and now hold daily services in the village church (which they have stripped to Benedictine simplicity), all sung in Gregorian chant -
Lauds 08.00
Mass 08.15 (12.00 noon on Sundays)
Vespers 19.00
Compline 21.30
All three had discovered their vocations during the pilgrimage, and have chosen to establish their new house on the camino in order to serve pilgrims. We hope to carry more information about their project in due course: meanwhile the sound of the chant coming from the old church, packed with pilgrims for Vespers each day, is another miracle in the revival of a village which, 10 years ago, was moribund.
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To mark the 10th Anniversary of refugio Gaucelmo in October 2001, an icon of Santiago Peregrino, commissioned in memory of the Confraternity's former Treasurer and Librarian, Stephen Badger, was installed in the refuge. To see the icon, and learn more about it, click here.
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2005 saw the opening of our second refuge, the Refugio de Peregrinos de Miraz, on the Camino del Norte. Follow the link for news of developments at Miraz!