Gallaecia and the ancient secret of Compostela

Gallaecia was the name given by the Romans to present-day Galicia. A region that holds many secrets, including an ancient secret of Compostela.

The various pilgrimage routes of what we know as the Camino de Santiago, end at the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, capital of Galicia. For more than a thousand years, these paths have been traveled by many pilgrims to honor and revere the apostle James. The tomb attributed to him was discovered there.

According to legend, this occurred in a place known in Latin as “Campus Stellae” (field of stars in English). This name came from the showers of stars that were seen there at night, shortly before the discovery of the tomb of the Apostle James. It was assumed that the rains indicated the location of the tomb.

Since the 9th century, however, some pilgrims have understood that upon arriving at Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, the pilgrimage is not yet complete.

Gallaecia and the secrets of Compostela

When the Roman conquerors arrived in the region that is now Galicia, they found people living there. With very fair skin and blond hair, they resembled the tribes of Gaul, which is present-day France.

They called these people Gallaeci, in reference to the region of Gaul, at that time also dominated by the Romans. Therefore, the name Galicia was inherited for the northwestern region of the Iberian Peninsula, as we know it today.

One of the secrets that the region holds is that throughout Galicia, from the southern border with Portugal to the coastal region of the Cantabrian Sea, we will have the opportunity to come across elements and aspects of human presence since long before the discovery of the tomb attributed to the Apostle James in Compostela.

The trails that exist throughout the Iberian Peninsula are today known as St. James’ Ways. However, many human groups have traveled these routes since Neolithic times in prehistory. The reasons were very diverse, and long before the intention of visiting the tomb site attributed to the Apostle James.

Along the St. James’ Ways, there will be the opportunity to discover and experience all these aspects of the Middle Ages before the 9th century, and even previous periods. It is worth a lot for pilgrims to take advantage of the opportunities that the St. James’ Ways offers. Looking at a more distant past of humanity, and its people, who moved and lived in what we know today as Galicia.

Compostela keeps secrets linked to aspects of history, culture and tourism in places where there are official paths to Santiago de Compostela. And we want to tell you about them. In particular, what we found on the route to Fisterra (or Finisterre in Spanish).

Learn more about Galicia, a land of culture, history and tourism.

Fisterra (or Finisterre) and the end of the world

After arriving in Santiago de Compostela, many people take an additional route to discover Fisterra. The famous and mythical end of the world, known since before the Renaissance and the Modern Age by pre-Roman people.

They trekked through the Iberian Peninsula until they reached the end of the Earth, which had been happening since at least 3,000 years ago. The movements of these pre-Roman human groups were intended for worship rituals of their Gods and also for procreation rituals, since the concept of marriage did not exist.

The name Fisterra comes from Galician, but with origins in Latin, which literally meant the “end of the earth”. It is a story, of spirituality and devotion, that goes back at least a thousand or two thousand years before the birth of Jesus.

The Gallaeci were animists, that is, they believed that everything had a spiritual entity. Not only living beings, but also the sun, water, mountains, etc.

In the village of Fisterra, people head to Monte Facho, which effectively ends the Earth. They are rocky cliffs that plunge deep into the Atlantic Ocean, shortly after reaching their peak. There is a lighthouse in the region where the bronze boot sculpture is also located.

In Finisterre this monument marks the end of the earth, on the ancient pilgrimage route.

There are still some ruins there, attributed to the Hermitage of São Guilherme. It is assumed that it was there that the Romans discovered a simple stone temple built by the Gallaeci for their sun worship, the “Ara Solis”, as described by the Galician historian, Benito Vicetto.

Ara Solis gives an indescribable dimension of spirituality and transcendence to those who go there. There, in the place that was considered the end of the world, from where you can see the sunset dipping into the Atlantic Ocean every day in the late afternoon.

As mentioned in the excellent article published by BBC Travel “The ancient secret kept by the Camino de Santiago“, the site of Ara Solis was described by some characters throughout history. First by the Roman naturalist, Pliny “The Elder”, in the book Natural History dated 77 AD, and then by Ptolemy, in the work Geographia, in 150 AD.

Initially, they called it “Nerium” or “Promunturium Celticum”, which means “Celtic Promontory”.

It is on Monte Facho that pilgrims in the past burned a piece of their clothing. A kind of ritual of purification and rebirth. This is currently prohibited, due to clear environmental preservation concerns at the site.

However, traces of burnt rocks can be seen here and there even today. Currently, to replace this ritual, some people tie small pieces of clothing to bushes squeezed between the rocks and leave them there.

It is here, where the sun dips into the ocean every afternoon, and collects itself to prepare for the next day, that a strong metaphor for the process of life after death and rebirth can be seen. For those who arrived there on pilgrimage, and still do, there is no way to go further. It is indeed the end of the Earth!