Christopher Howse has spent more than two decades exploring Spain. For him, its centuries-old cathedrals, monasteries & shrines demand pilgrimage more than tourism. In a journey across the Castilian interior he follows in the footsteps of El Cid & St Dominic, examines St Teresa`s arm, samples the legacy of the Cardinal who invaded Africa, finds the spot where St John of the Cross escaped from prison, & discovers in a mountain shrine the world`s largest remnant of the True Cross. He comes across a slaughterhouse dedicated to the Virgin Mary, & a cock & hen living in a cathedral. He hears of uncivil war in Europe`s most civilised square & enjoys the smells, heat, food, noise, prayers, tears, flies, smoke, violence & laughter of an ancient culture in its last years. With an eye for the humorous & strange, he spends time in Soria & Silos, Yuste & Segovia, before turning from the pilgrim destination of Santiago de Compostela to the valleys of Extremadura, where the Virgin of Guadalupe took the Spanish to an unknown world.