Aldeaseca de la Armuña
Via de la Plata
Aldeaseca is a small cluster of houses around a robust church with a square tower, technically a district of the municipality of Villares de la Reina rather than an independent village. The Iglesia de la Santa Cruz is disproportionately large for the settlement -- locals call it the Armuna Cathedral. The Celtiberians settled here first, followed by the Romans, and later by Moriscos and Jews during the medieval repopulations. For centuries the clergy of Salamanca's cathedral used Aldeaseca as their summer retreat.
These days it functions mainly as a dormitory village for commuters to Salamanca. Services are minimal -- don't count on finding a bar open.
The Armuna region north of Salamanca was a breadbasket in medieval times, its fertile plains feeding the growing university city. Aldeaseca's oversized church reflects the wealth that once flowed through these agricultural communities before rural depopulation took its toll.
At the end of this small village, the camino returns to the road and crosses over it. Old arrows might try to keep you on the road, but avoid them in favor of a track that veers right. This track crosses the nearby motorway and then returns you to the road safely on the other side, where you cross back over the N-630 to enter Castellanos de Villiquera.
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