Cape of Finisterre

Did you know that... the Cape of Finisterre

It is a tongue of land that enters the waters of the Atlantic Ocean forming part of the wild beauty of the Costa da Morte. Although there are more western capes than that of Finisterre, Cabo da Roca in Portugal, that of Touriñán in Muxía or that of La Nave in the same town hall of Finisterre, that of Earth's End has always carried the title and the honour of being the westernmost in continental Europe. From its cliff you can see the islets of O Petonciño and A Centola. In addition, on clear and clear days the view reaches the Mount de Santa Tecla, wanting to sense how the river Miño yields its waters to the ocean. Also the panoramic view of the Corcubión estuary, the coast of Carnota or Mount Pindo steal protagonism from the wild marine waters that are beaten at its feet. Its shape, its location and its difficult accessibility meant that in the past people surrounded it with an enigmatic and mysterious halo, and with it it is very likely to be the scene of fables and legends, being the object of study of historians and geographers such as Pliny and Strabo who placed in the place the so-called Portus Artabrorum or located the known as Promontorium Nerium or Celtici. Here was also located the Celtic temple dedicated to the Sun, the sanctuary Ara Solis, it is also said that the waters that beat its rocky cliff hide the remains of the legendary city of Dugium.

What to see in the Cape of Finisterre?

The Cape of Finisterre has witnessed major military strife. Whole fleets have been devastated by storms, as happened to the Second Invincible Navy, which of its more than one hundred ships sank twenty-five and the others were adrift appearing even in distant ports. If you look at it from the sea, the set formed by the three buildings, lighthouse, traffic light and siren, resemble a fortress. The Lighthouse was built in 1853 and its light, which at first was produced by oil lamps, can be seen up to a distance of more than 50 kilometres. The building that houses the Sirena, the Cow of Finisterre, as it is known, came into operation in 1889 and on foggy days, when the light of the lighthouse is attenuated by this atmospheric phenomenon, its serious sound is heard in the distance. The third building is the Traffic Light, which was built in 1879, its mission was to emit signals for the navy and today is a building dedicated to tourist service. Near the lighthouse you can see the monument to the Emigrant, made in 1993 by Agustín de la Herrán de Matorras.

To discover

But the greatest attraction of this place, which over the centuries has captivated people and cultures around the world, is its sunset. Placing oneself in the viewpoint or sitting among the rocks and waiting for the great star, in its daily walk, to come to submerge and rest in the sea and, after an explosion of colors and flashes in the sky and in the waters, turn off its light to let the night extend its dark mantle, is a vision that is kept in the retina and that floods you with unspeakable sensations.

Traditions

The ruins of the hermitage of San Guillermo, on top of Mount Facho, are a mixture of legend and tradition. According to the legend it was Santiago himself who ordered it to be built in this place in order to Christianize the pagan cults that took place here. The place is associated with the Ara Solis, plain where the sun was worshipped and where fertility rites were performed, because there was a large slab known as a cama do santo and where, according to tradition, sterile marriages slept in order to conceive children. This popular tradition lasted in time and even the hermitage was visited by women from the area to ask the Saint for their fertility.

Curiosities

On the road up to the Finisterre lighthouse and close to it is the municipal cemetery, designed by César Portela and known until recently as the without dead cemetery, which is remarkable for not resembling the traditional concept of a cemetery at all, but rather a curious work of art made up of large cubes located on the edge of the sea. If you climb to the top of Mount Facho you can see the remains of what was the hermitage of San Guillermo, and on the ground a rock that appears to be an anthropomorphic sepulchre. To get to the remains of this hermitage, you have to take the road that leads to the lighthouse and about 300 m before arriving there is a detour to the right that goes to the old radiotelegraphy station, from here starts a track that in about 400 m takes us to the hermitage. Also at the top of this mountain were located in the past the first bonfires to signal the danger of the coasts. The Cape of Finisterre is the final point of the GR-1 long-distance path that begins in Ampurias, Gerona.

The Legend

The Cape of Finisterre keeps an endless number of legends and around it the places where they come to life; the stones stained with wine; the holy stones, which are two large and round stones on which it is said that the Virgin rested and to which certain powers are attributed or the tomb of Orca Vella, a legend that tells that Orca Vella was an evil witch disguised as a beautiful barbarian woman who had frightened the people of the place. One day, seeing the end of her life, she decided to dig a tomb and bury herself in it with a boy she had bewitched. When he was buried, the poor zagal began to shout and before his screams the people came with the intention of helping him, but they did not manage to do anything because when they approached her tomb, a great number of snakes came out.