A TINY village of just 250 people in the Spanish Pyrenees is home to a 200-year-old silver chest containing a thorn from Christ’s crown.
Castiello de Jaca, a scenic stop on the Camino de Santiago trail in Huesca at an altitude of 921 metres, is known locally as the ‘village of 100 relics’.
The treasure is kept locked inside the 12th-century San Miguel church and is only opened to the public on the first Sunday of July.
According to local legend, a pilgrim travelling from Valencia fell seriously ill and was taken in by the village’s residents.
In gratitude for their hospitality, the man gifted them his prized collection of holy items.
The relics are housed in a silver and wood chest crafted by a local artisan known as Cotin in 1825.
While the myth claims there are 100 relics, a 2014 restoration inventory confirmed there are actually 14.
They include a splinter from the True Cross and a thorn from the crown of Jesus Christ.
Other items belong to saints including St John the Baptist and St Lucy.
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The mayor holds the only key to the chest, which is unlocked for free public viewing during the annual Relics Festival.
Two private homes in the village also hold their own secret relics, which are never shown to the public.
Beyond its religious history, the village offers medieval ruins and cold natural pools along the River Ijuez.
The neighbouring Garcipollera valley was repopulated with pine trees in the mid-20th century to prevent soil erosion.
The surrounding forest is home to a local colony of deer that descend from just three animals originally brought from the Montes de Toledo.
Nearby historical sites include Jaca’s Cathedral of San Pedro, built around 1080, and the 11th-century Santa Maria de Iguacel church.
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