Epilogue to Fisterra and Muxía

In a confection of the Earth

Santiago de Compostela is the spiritual goal of pilgrimages but the Costa da Morte also carries a good burden of mysticism. Before the discoveries, it was for many the last inhabitable portion of the world. Today is the figurative end, a secluded place that everyone wants to reach, like the Celtic and Roman peoples, to wait for the time of sunset and see the sun hide in the vastness of the ocean. There are many stories that throughout the centuries have been given to us by travelers and pilgrims who came to these shores: the Hungarian Jorge Grisaphan in 1355, the Czech Lion of Rosmithal in the mid-fifteenth century, the German Erich Lassota in 1584, the Boloñan cleric Laffi in the seventeenth century, and so many others. Also, various vestiges and historical documents provide data on the old pilgrim hospitals that marked this route, such as those of the village of Hospital itself, in Dumbría, and those of Cee, Corcubión and Fisterra. In Book III of the Codex Calixtinus, in the middle of the 12th century, which deals with the translation of the body of the Apostle from Jerusalem to Galicia, the city of Dugium - the current Duio of the municipality of Fisterrano - is cited, where the disciples ask the prefect for permission, without success, to bury the body of Santiago. In the rebirth of the Camino, in the middle of the twentieth century, Luciano Huidobro described in volume III of his consulted work Las Peregrinaciones Jacobeas the entire trip from Santiago to Finisterre. More recent, from 2010, is the interesting title El Camino al Fin de la Tierra del muxián Manuel Vilar Álvarez, a thesis and historical walk from Santiago to Fisterra and Muxía.

The itinerary:

Nine are the municipalities or Concellos that visit the road, epilogue or extension, as we call it. In addition to Santiago itself, the conferences take place in Ames, Negreira, Mazaricos, Dumbría, Cee, Corcubión, Fisterra and Muxía. To go completely and draw the triangle, that is, for example, going to Fisterra, then to Muxía and returning to the village of Hospital, where the bifurcation of Caminos is located, is 151 kilometers. Reaching Fisterra takes 89 kilometers and stretching one more day to Muxía increases the figure to 119. Almost until 2010 the hostel network did not allow many flowers when it came to the stages. With the massive opening of accommodation for pilgrims during 2010 and the new ones in 2011, although almost all in the same places, it is already possible to make a less rigid division. The guide should always be an orientation and each one may vary according to your preferences stages in order to the available days and hostels.

Signalling:

Except in the cathedral setting, where some traces of arrows can also be seen, the Epilogue to Fisterra and Muxía is signalized as is the other Jacobean itineraries in Galicia: with the already classic mojones with distance indicator. The first one is located in the Carballeira de San Lorenzo and already includes two sheets with the remaining kilometers to both Fisterra and Muxía. Although not the most common, the particularity of this path is also the possibility of doing it backwards, leaving the Costa da Morte and with the gaze in Santiago. It is not uncommon to cross with pilgrims towards the cathedral, some of them back after completing the outward route. Although the lap is marked with arrows, the brands are not perfect and in some points there are certain deficiencies although they can be saved. However, in the stage between Fisterra and Muxía the mujones point in both directions, being able to complete from Muxía to Fisterra.

Hostels:

The infrastructure for pilgrims on the Camino a Fisterra and Muxía, we will not deny it, has been very scarce for many years. The first hostel was opened in Fisterra in 1997 and later, in 2001, those of Negreira and Olveiroa were opened. In 2004 it was the turn of Corcubión, in 2007 the one of Muxía was inaugurated, a year later two privates were opened in Fisterra and in 2009 opened the hostel located in the village of Santa Mariña, in Mazaricos. Besides, there were a couple of shelters. So the 2010 Holy Year came and this itinerary had only 8 hostels. It was that same year when, as an outpouring of ephemeral trees, they saw the light of 8 shelters, suddenly doubling the number that had been set for 14 years. Today, in 2022, the number of hostels offered to the pilgrim is such that he leaves the road with sufficient guarantees to choose to shorten or extend the stages to his liking, and so virtually no one is left without a bed. This network of hostels, plus accommodation of all kinds in the localities that are usually the end of the stage, provides certain guarantees to the pilgrim and we believe that it is also one of the reasons why the epilogue to Fisterra and Muxía has seen a considerable increase.

Bibliography:

Journey to Poniente, of the Boloñan cleric Domenico Laffi, of the Compostelan publisher Sildavia. Ameno account of the pilgrimage of this Italian in the 17th century from Bologna to Santiago and Finisterre and the return to Italy through various Spanish regions such as Valladolid, Madrid, Toledo, Aragon and Catalonia.

The Jacobean Pilgrimages, written in three volumes by Luciano Huidobro and Serna and several collaborators, first published in 1950 and 1951. The edition made by the Provincial Council of Burgos and Iberdrola on the occasion of the Holy Year of 1999 was consulted. In Volume III, in the Secondary Roads section, he dedicates several pages to the Road to the end of the Earth.

El Camino al Fin de la Tierra, by Manuel Vilar Álvarez and edited in 2010 by the Association of Official Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Navigation of the Jacobean Paths. Vilar Álvarez makes a field thesis rediscovering the route used by the ancient pilgrims and comparing it with the current itinerary of the Xunta. It is based on historical sources, provides small fragments of the conversations with the locals and investigates various aspects of the current pilgrimage.

Guide of the Camino de Santiago for pilgrims, of Antón Pombo and edited by the Anaya Group. Fisterra and Muxía were consulted for the 2010 edition.