The Camino de Santiago in Finisterre and Muxia

The Camino de Santiago in Finisterre and Muxia

There is also a path that does not reach Santiago but goes from Santiago to Finisterre.

Finisterre is a promontory on the Atlantic Ocean in northwestern Galicia (northwestern Spain), located in the so-called Costa da Morte ("Coast of Death") which conventionally separates the Rías Altas from the Rías Baixas (Rías Bajas in Castilian), represents the arrival point of the Camino de Santiago (particularly, at the Church of Santa María das Areas) and is considered - also by virtue of the name (derived from the Latin finis terrae, i.e. "end of the earth") - ideally, but erroneously , the westernmost point of land in mainland Spain, forgetting that this point is actually Cabo da Roca, in Portugal.

The promontory is made up of granite rocks and rises 600 m above sea level. Along the headland are the beaches of O Rostro, Arnela, Mar de Fora, Langosteira, Riveira, and Corbeiro.

In fact, many pilgrims extended their journey to Finisterre, a place once believed to be the limit of known places.

It was considered a mythical and symbolic place since Roman times and until the discovery of the Americas by Columbus (1492), the subject of legends and tributary of pagan rites. Furthermore, one of the legends that flourished around the transport of the body of St. James from Palestine to Galicia has it that the saint's disciples passed through here to reach the place of the tomb.

For several years this itinerary has regained a lot of vitality and many of the pilgrims who arrive in Santiago after having traveled the other Ways, perhaps also due to the melancholy of the end of the Way that envelops you at the end of this extraordinary experience, decide to continue to Finisterre and there to perform some of the modern rituals, such as burning one's clothes and/or boots in a bonfire.

Together with Finisterre, pilgrims now go to Muxia, adding one day to their journey. Muxia is linked to the Jacobean cult by the Church of the Virgen de la Barca, located on the cape near the town. According to tradition, the Virgin arrived in Muxía on a stone ship to encourage the Apostle James to carry out his preaching in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula. The "piedras santas" around the sanctuary would be the remains of the boat. An image of the Virgin was found near one of these stones and brought to the church of Muxia.

It is a rather simple route, where stretches of paved road alternate with dirt roads and forest paths and can be divided into 4 stages:
1. from Santiago to Negreira, 20 Km.,
2. from Negreira to Olveiroa, 32 Km.,
3. from Olveiroa to Finisterre, 35 Km.,
4. from Capo Finisterre to Muxia, 33 Km.