Wynette. Santiago is the primary pilgrim’s destination, the end of the Camino. However, once pilgrims reach Santiago, some choose to continue walking on to Finisterre and/or Muxia.
Finisterre is about 55 walking miles west of Santiago and is on the Atlantic Ocean. In ancient times, people thought Finisterre was the end of the earth, hence its name. Even then, people made pilgrimages to Finisterre as it was considered to be a spiritually powerful place. (At some point in history it was determined that a cape in Portugal is a little further west than Finisterre and is the westernmost point in Europe.)
We walked part of the way from Santiago to Finisterre and bussed part of it. We are staying in Finisterre for 3 days. We have seen lots of pilgrims here. There are quite a few staying in our little hostal and most are here for several days. We’ve had fun sharing tea and stories in the kitchen.
We walked out to the end of Cape Finisterre today. (Photo above.) The Cape is about two miles past the village of Finisterre. Photo below shows return into village.
From Finisterre, we plan to spend two days walking up to Muxia. Muxia is another coastal town, 18 walking miles north of here. We think we’ll stay in Muxia a few days as well.
Muxia is where Martin Sheen and his Camino buddies ended up walking in The Way, where he left his son’s ashes.
We’re not sure but we might walk back toward Santiago after Muxia. Not all the way, but a day or two. We love walking through the little villages and it is hard to give up the pilgrim lifestyle.
For more, search for Cape Finisterre on Google. The Wikipedia article is nice. (I would include a link but think I only have mobile site url.)
