DAY 1: SUNSET AT FISTERRA
We´ll start the day in Fisterra, a peaceful fishing village where we can find the first reference to the sun in the Ara Solis Square and street of the same name. This name is a tribute to the legendary altar that is said to have existed at Cape Fisterra to hold sun-worshipping rituals. This square is home to the Casa do Cuadrante, a 13th-century building that may have been a former pilgrims’ hospital. Its façade houses a beautiful clock, a witness to the passing of time, whose movement is governed by the action of the sun, the main character of our narrative.
Close by is the Castle of San Carlos, converted into an interesting museum dedicated to fishing and seafaring. Then we’ll reach Santa María das Areas, a church of great architectural beauty that is closely linked to the Way of Saint James. The ruins of the San Guillerme Sanctuary are nearby, and the remains of ancient cults and magical beliefs attributed to its stones can be observed among them.
During the equinoxes, from the entrance to the sanctuary, we can see the first rays of the sun at dawn on the Alto da Moa, the summit of the impressive Monte Pindo.
Close by is the Castle of San Carlos, converted into an interesting museum dedicated to fishing and seafaring. Then we’ll reach Santa María das Areas, a church of great architectural beauty that is closely linked to the Way of Saint James. The ruins of the San Guillerme Sanctuary are nearby, and the remains of ancient cults and magical beliefs attributed to its stones can be observed among them.
During the equinoxes, from the entrance to the sanctuary, we can see the first rays of the sun at dawn on the Alto da Moa, the summit of the impressive Monte Pindo.
In the afternoon we’ll still have time to go down to the Mar de Fora Beach, battered by a raging ocean that pounds its shores, before heading to Cape Fisterra to enjoy the first sunset of this trip.
From here, a cradle of pagan cults and a natural stronghold of this stretch of the Costa da Morte, we’ll witness the spectacle offered by the sinking of the sun in the Sea of Darkness, the same the Roman Emperor Decimus Junius Brutus probably observed during his conquest of this territory on the frontier of his empire.
