Camino de Levante
My interest in the Camino de Levante was aroused by an article written by Sarah Gordon which appeared in The Times newspaper. It seemed to offer a relatively short camino (5-days, 120-km) that could be done almost at anytime during the year, and searching for some winter sun it was ideal for a February expedition. The Camino de Levante is one of several caminos that ends in the Holy City of Caravaca de la Cruz. The 7-yearly Jubilee Celebrations took place in 2024, hence the current interest. For some 800 years pilgrims have made their way to Caravaca de la Cruz, located in the arid hills northwest of Murcia, and on the border of Christian and Muslim Spain. In 1232 a double-armed cross, claimed to have been made from fragments of the real cross, arrived in Caravaca. It has been in the hilltop fortress ever since, and the city has the rare status of Holy City of Catholicism.
The various routes to Caravaca are detailed later, but for this walk I chose the Camino de Levante, originating in the rural town of Orihuela, near Alicante and arriving at Caravaca after five stages. This East-to-West route follows the River Segura into Murcia, heads west through citrus fields, the dry badlands to Mula and the vineyards near Bullas.
The route is easy to follow and the signage is exceptional, with the overall generic name of "Camino de Caravaca de la Cruz" being more prominent than the "Camino de Levante". A great deal of the route is along a disused railway line and "Via Verdes" and is also a popular cycling route. |
My Garmin Walking Stats
| Day |
To |
Distance |
Time |
Elevation in meters |
| |
|
Km |
Elapsed
Hrs-Mins |
Moving
Hrs-Mins |
Gain |
Loss |
Min |
Max |
| 1 |
Orihuela to Murcia |
25.53 |
6H24 |
5H04 |
144 |
115 |
19 |
60 |
| 2 |
Murcia to Molina de Segura |
23.7 |
6H10 |
4H50 |
146 |
119 |
34 |
90 |
| 3 |
Molina de Segura to Mula |
31.54 |
8H39 |
6H24 |
481 |
255 |
70 |
321 |
| 4 |
Mula to Bullas |
21.08 |
6H05 |
4H33 |
469 |
149 |
294 |
630 |
| 5 |
Bullas to Caravaca de la Cruz |
24.66 |
6H30 |
5H17 |
356 |
322 |
513 |
671 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Total |
126.51 |
|
|
1,596 |
960 |
|
|
Getting There
| Date |
Flight Details |
| Wednesday 19th February 2024 |
Ryanair FR2586
ETD London Stansted 11:05 hrs
ETA Alicante
14-40hrs |
| Wednesday 26th February 2024 |
Ryanair FR 2506
ETD Alicante 13:00 hrs
ETA London Stansted 14:45 hrs
|
Alicante Airport to Orihuela
When I planned this trip I considered two ways to get to Orihuela from Alicante Airport:-
1. To take a bus from Alicante Airport to Alicante Termino railway station, and then the train to Orihuela.
2. To take a bus from Alicante Airport direct to Murcia bus station, to transfer to Murcia railway station, and then to take the train 2 stops back towards Alicante to Orihuela.
I chose the second option. When you exit Alicante Airport, the bus stops are to the right and the last bus stop, about 100 meters away is the one for Murcia. Getting a ticket on line was simple. Before leaving home I went on "getbybus" website (www.getbybus.com) and bought a ticket (Euro 8.12) for the bus departing 16:15 hrs, arriving Murcia bus station at 17:10 hrs. There is actually a lady standing in the bus stop area at the airport from whom you can purchase a ticket if you have not already done so. As it happened, I arrived around 3 p.m.; I waited until everybody had got on the 15:15 hrs bus, and then showed my 16:15 hrs ticked to the bus driver. The driver accepted the ticket and I was on my way an hour earlier than I had expected. |
The Murcia bus stop..... the last stop to the right
The 15:15 hrs bus to Murcia
The second option meant that I did not have to go into Alicante, but it meant getting from Estación de Autobuses de Murcia to Murcia del Carmen Railway Station. This was too far to walk, and entailed a short taxi ride (Euro 6.10). This was approximately 3 km and took 10 minutes. |
| I bought a ticket at the RENFE ticked office for Euro 3.80 and took the 16:50 hrs train, arriving at Orihuela at 17:06 hrs, after one stop at Beniel. |
| The Murcia - Alicante train |
Orihuela-Miguel Hernández railway station
| The main boulevard leading away from Orihuela Station into the centre of the town.
My hotel, the Sercotel Palacio de Tudemir was about 600 m away. |
The Segura River ..... the hotel was just beyond the bridge
Catedral del Salvador y Santa María
The tower is the oldest part of the cathedral. Its construction began at the end of the 13th century and it was extended in height and width in the 14th century. It is a square-shaped ashlar construction that houses the clock face on a balcony in one of its sections (18th century). The interior consists of four sections covered by simple cross vaults and separated externally by continuous mouldings. The various floors house: a prison, a fact attested to by curious inscriptions made by prisoners, the old clock machinery (18th century), the liturgical bell room, and the fourth and last floor houses the hour bell (16th century) and the bell (18th century). The various floors are accessed from the inside of the monument by a spiral staircase made of Gothic ashlar. In it you can see the passage of time in the construction, because in the prison room and in the first section of the staircase, on the keystones there are two shields of the bishop of Cartagena.
Courtesy of Wikipedia |
The Cloister
The cloister of the Orihuela Cathedral is one of the most emblematic and beautiful spaces in the city. It is a Renaissance work from the old convent of La Merced, where it was built around 1560 by Hernando Veliz. In 1942, it was moved to this place, where the cathedral's graveyard was located. The project carried out by the architect Serrano Peral included the location of the new Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art and the Cathedral Archive in the adjoining rooms of the cloister. At the time, a Gothic cross from the Alicante town of Denia was installed in the centre. The current one is a copy of the original, which is currently kept in the Archaeological Museum of Denia.
Courtesy of Wikipedia |
Loreto Gate
From the mid-15th century , in an archaic Gothic style, with a lowered entrance by a Renaissance basket-handle arch located after the disappearance of the mullion in the 16th century . On its archivolts, there are singing angels and musicians as decoration. The Loreto portal is named after giving access to the Loreto chapel; a chapel owned by the Orihuela cathedral but located outside the walls of the same.
Courtesy of Wikipedia |
Accommodation
Sercotel Palacio de Tudemir, Calle Alfonso XIII, 1, Orihuela
Sercotel Palacio de Tudemir
The entrance
Spacious bedroom
An Alternative Suggestion
| One alternative worth considering, due to the ease of getting from Murcia to Orihuela by train, would be to have two nights at Hotel Certina in Murcia, and take the train in the mroning to Orihuela for Stage 1. This means you would have 2 nights in the same hotel, and you could walk Stage 1. with a light day pack. |
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