A visit to the end of the known world, Cabo Finisterre/Fisterre
(plus some photos from Santiago de Compostela)
This is a place I wanted to visit because it is the end, or the beginning, of the ancient pilgrimage trail that now, for most people, ends at Santiago de Compostela.
I did not visit Santiago, but Dave Sevougian did, and gave me several photos to share with you (thanks, Dave!):
This is the cathedral on its square:
This is a detail of the cathedral roof-line architecture:
This is the square from a higher level in the cathedral (note the performer on stilts with his collection hat, all is not total seriousness in Santiago):
And this is what all the pilgrims seek to embrace at the end of their journey: the statue of Saint Thomas (San Tiago) that stands over his sarcophagus with his remains:
In this next photo you see a pilgrim standing next to the saint's image, behind him, where a narrow stairway takes you so you can hug the statue as your official end of your pilgrimage (unless you are one of the very few that goes on to Finisterre --most pilgrims that walk from, and maybe back to, Finisterre land there by boat, just as at A Coruņa):
Now, on to Cabo Finisterre/Fisterre
For a time, when it was thought the world was round but intervening continents were not known, and when it was thought the world was flat also, this was the end of the known world, the westernmost rock in Spain. Have a look, four looks, even:
There is another cliff overlooking the ocean that gives a good view of ships coming onto the bay (photo courtesy of Dave Sevougian):
Turning around and looking up gave this view of the Finisterre lighthouse:
Finally, Dave took some great wave-action photos on the cliffs below, here is one of them:
That is probably enough of that. There was a "Zero Kilometer" marker for the Compostela trail in a wall plaque put up by a service organization that I failed to take a photo of. Instead, I was more fascinated by this plaque, and what it says remains a mystery to me:
And here is the first kilometer marker. It originally had a scallop shell embedded in it and a marker sign, but they have been dug out every one of these signs by souvenir hunters:
Of course there is a lighthouse:
And a good view of the bay of Finisterre as well:
Every restaurant serves sea food in huge quantities and great varieties. Look in this next picture, beyond the balanced rock, and see the fishing boats just offshore making sure the restaurants of Galicia have what they need:
And it is looking toward the Finisterre beach (behind the protruding hillside, beyond the coast guard ship) that we will end this page. The next page will take us to that beach.
An evening ride to see lighthouses, a beach and a castle at Santa Cruz, Spain.
A very old lighthouse on a Roman foundation
An A Coruņa harbor cruise
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