Viveiro

This town in the Lugo region of A Mariña boasts a Holy Week that has been declared a festival of international tourist interest and stands out, among other reasons, for the artistic value of its images, some of which are articulated. The “Paso” of the Supper, created at the beginning of the 19th century by a craftsman using local sailors as models to shape the figures of the Apostles, is more than two hundred years old. The processions of the Last Supper, The Arrest, The Encounter and The Holy Burial are some of the most emotional and colourful of its usual calendar. This year it will not be possible to enjoy them in the street to avoid crowds, but worship will continue in the churches and exhibitions and virtual activities will be organised.

More information at http://semanasantaviveiro.com/

Ferrol

Since 2014, Easter Week in Ferrol has also been recognised as a festival of international tourist interest. From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, the five brotherhoods of the city organise a total of 24 processions that fill the streets of Ferrol with fervour and colour. The main events take place between the neighbourhoods of Esteiro and A Magdalena on Wednesday, Thursday and Good Friday. This year, these processions will be replaced by alternative events, which will take place in the headquarters of each Easter brotherhood and in the Angustias, Amboage and Contralmirante Azarola Gresillón squares, respecting the sanitary measures and the capacity restrictions established by the authorities.

More information at http://www.semanasantaferrol.org/

Santiago de Compostela

The streets of the city of the Apostle are the unbeatable setting for the development of a Holy Week of regional tourist interest that has undergone an intense revitalisation in recent years, as demonstrated by the fact that Compostela now has more than a dozen brotherhoods. Its members are responsible for organising the 17 processions which recreate the main episodes of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The events planned for this occasion will take place between 26 March and 11 April, although the processions will also be dispensed with in order to avoid the health risks associated with crowds of people. Instead, the activities organised by the confraternities will be moved to their own headquarters and other enclosed spaces where capacity can be controlled and health measures can be complied with.

More information at https://www.semanasantasantiago.es/es/inicio/

Fisterra

The traditional festivities of Easter Week in Fisterra, also declared a festivity of Galician tourist interest, add a singular recreation in this town of the Costa da Morte that year after year congregates thousands of people, becoming the main event of its extensive programme. It takes place on Easter Sunday and the locals themselves are responsible for bringing to life the protagonists of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As last year, the promoters of the activities have had to cancel the processions and the aforementioned representation, but the liturgical acts planned inside the parish church of Santa María das Areas are maintained, and to avoid that the capacity limitations prevent the faithful and the curious from taking part, the Xunta de Confrarías da Semana Santa de Fisterra will broadcast them live through its space on Facebook.

More information at https://www.facebook.com/semanasanta.fisterra/

Lugo

The celebration of alternative activities centred on the processions that should take place every day is the idea on which those in charge of the board of brotherhoods of Lugo are working to keep Holy Week alive in the city of the wall, a festival also of regional interest. Thus, the neighbours will not be able to see the procession of the Holy Sacrament (a singular event linked to the privilege that the Cathedral enjoys to exhibit it permanently) nor the colourful encounter between Jesus Christ and the Virgin, but they will be able to join, with the consequent capacity limitations, the events that will be organised on special days such as Palm Sunday, and Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. 

More information at http://www.semanasantadelugo.com/es/noticias

Mondoñedo

The processions that take place from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday make Holy Week one of the main festivities in the Mondoñedo calendar and have led to it also being considered a festival of tourist interest in Galicia. Its origins date back to at least the 16th century, and although on this occasion the locals will not be able to take to the streets to attend these acts of great fervour and solemnity, they will be able to go to the monumental cathedral to follow the different masses planned throughout this festive cycle. 

More information at https://www.facebook.com/turismomondonedo

Betanzos

Declared of regional tourist interest in 2017, the Holy Week of Betanzos stands out especially for the processions of Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, being the one popularly known as Os Caladiños the most famous of them all. For the second consecutive year, the streets will not be the scene of the traditional route of the “pasos” and the brotherhoods and Nazarenes, but the liturgical acts will keep their spirit alive and the social networks will contribute to their promotion as it happened a year ago, when they were broadcast through the YouTube channel of the Pastoral Unit of Betanzos.

More information at https://www.facebook.com/semanasantabetanzos

Cangas

The artistic value of its “pasos”, some of them articulated to give more realism to the celebration, its antiquity and its roots make the Holy Week of Cangas one of the most outstanding in the province of Pontevedra and also allowed it to be declared of tourist interest in Galicia. Some of its brotherhoods were founded three centuries ago and their work has contributed to the fact that processions such as the Holy Supper, the Denial of St. Peter or the Holy Meeting attract large crowds. None of them will go out this year, but some liturgical acts are maintained and brotherhoods such as the Hermandad de los Dolores y la Soledad encourage residents to decorate their balconies with commemorative flags.

More information at https://cangas.gal/es/areas/turismo/fiestas-y-festivales/semana-santa

Paradela (Meis)

The involvement of the entire parish of Paradela, in the municipality of Meis, Pontevedra, has made its Easter Week one of the most outstanding in Galicia and therefore also of regional tourist interest. The locals themselves become actors for a few days to give life to the main characters of the central episodes of the biblical story: the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the arrest of Christ, the trial, the Stations of the Cross…. All of these are re-enactments which, like a year ago, will fall out of the programme of activities on this occasion due to the covid restrictions, although the brotherhood will probably once again take advantage of social networks to organise a Virtual Holy Week.

More information at http://bit.ly/SemanaSantaParadela

Dolmen of Dombate

Cabana de Bergantiños 

The position of the stars played a key role in the orientation of the dolmens, although there are differences between the astronomical phenomenon chosen by their builders when it came to erecting these megaliths. In the case of the dolmen of Dombate, located in the municipality of Cabana de Bergantiños in A Coruña and known as the cathedral of Galician megalithic architecture, its relationship with the winter solstice is clear, since its roof was arranged in such a way that the first rays of sunlight from that day could penetrate to the interior of its chamber. 

Castro de Baroña

Porto do Son

This “castrexo” site, one of the best known and most visited in Galicia due to its state of conservation and its unique position on a rocky promontory next to the sea, was not built with its back turned to astronomical phenomena either. Some archaeoastronomy studies have identified alignments that relate it to the winter solstice. Thus, although any time of year is good to enjoy a fantastic sunset there, it is during that day of transit between seasons when you can appreciate how the corridor that leads to a natural viewpoint over the sea is aligned with the sunset. This has led to the conclusion that the place could have been the scene of some rite on the part of its ancient inhabitants.

Pena de Rodas

Outeiro de Rei

These two large granite formations located at an altitude of over 600 metres in the municipality of Outeiro de Rei in Lugo are famous for having inspired several legends, but also for their peculiar position. Some researchers maintain that it was a place of worship in ancient times because it was oriented towards the sunset during the summer solstice, but it also offers a spectacular view during the winter solstice, in this case at sunrise.

Mount of San Trocado

Punxín, Cenlle and San Amaro

In the vicinity of the spectacular castro of San Cibrao de Las, there is a mountain whose summit was once occupied by another “castrexa” construction. As in other similar places, in later centuries it was Christianised with the construction of a chapel that today still hosts a popular pilgrimage. But the worship of its ancient inhabitants to the sun is still present too. Experts point out that during the winter solstice the sun is aligned with this enclosure and with a rocky shelter that holds a petroglyph. 

Archaeological Park of Rock Art

Campo Lameiro 

The importance that astronomical phenomena had for those who inhabited Campo Lameiro 4,000 years ago is shown by the petroglyphs that can be seen in its archaeological park dedicated to rock art. One of its best known figures is the deer in the petroglyph of Laxe dos Carballos, whose antlers have branches that have been interpreted by some scholars as astronomical beads. Furthermore, there are those who maintain that at the time it was carved, the figure was oriented towards the sunrise during the winter solstice.

Mount Esperon

Narón

“In St. Lucia, the longest night and the shortest day”. The replacement of the Julian calendar by the Gregorian calendar and the elimination of ten days in October 1582 to correct the accumulated deviation is the most accepted explanation as to why this popular saying no longer applies: the celebration of Saint Lucia (13th December) no longer coincides with the winter solstice, but the link between the two events is still in place in some places. This is the case in the parish of Sedes, in Narón, where they celebrate them jointly on the Saturday closest to the December 13th with a Noite de Luz (Night of Light) that starts in the chapel of Santa Lucía and ends at the top of Mount Esperón with a torches lighting.

Cape Fisterra

Fisterra

The history of Cape Fisterra has been closely linked to the sun since time immemorial, thus becoming a place of worship and pilgrimage. There, according to the legend, there was an altar dedicated to the sun (Ara Solis) and the Romans considered that it was the end of the earth (hence the original Latin name of the place, Finis Terrae). Today, its sunsets still captivate thousands of people, and the winter solstice is an excellent opportunity to see why the cape maintains its millenary magnetism intact.

The elongated shape of this cape and the situation of Galicia in a corner of the Roman Empire meant that for centuries it was considered that there was nothing beyond those lands. Perhaps that is why this point of the map was always considered a magical place, mysterious and full of legends.

It is said that this is the place to which Décimo Julio Bruto came after declaring himself victorious in the conquest of ancient Gallaecia to see how the sun disappeared swallowed by the sea. Previously there was a temple dedicated to the Sun called Ara Solis, built by the Phoenicians as a place of worship to the king of the sky. Perhaps for this reason even today the end of the “Xacobea” route is located in this place where thousands of pilgrims come every year to see the sunset after having visited the tomb of the Apostle Santiago; there they will burn their clothes and begin the return home.

Thus, and from the beginning of time, Fisterra evokes an unfathomable mystery in the soul of men. The roots of his legendary aura have their origin in the mythology of the first settlers of Europe, who believed that the earthly world gave way, with the arrival of death, to another existence in a place to the west, where they watched the sun go down. In Celtic legends it is frequent to find images of heroes who make their last trip to this paradise in a stone boat, and that is why this union of stone, sea and spirituality still survives along the Costa da Morte in different ways.

Nowadays, on the top of the hill is the hermitage of San Guillermo, Christianized place from the pagan cults related to the fertility and where the stone called “bed of the saint” or “bed of San Guillermo” was placed. There is also, among archaeological remains, an anthropomorphic sarcophagus of the 7th century. But if there is a famous element in this piece of land is the lighthouse of Cape Fisterra which, with an age of 164 years, is the second most visited place of Galicia after Santiago de Compostela. From this point you can see spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean, the Corcubión estuary and the coast of Carnota with its famous Monte Pindo, and on clear days you can even see the mountain of Santa Trega, located on the border of Portugal, right at the mouth of the Miño River.

Cape Fisterra has also been, over the centuries, a magnet for people from all over the world, attracting travelers from distant countries and also, but with worse fortune, dozens of ships that were shipwrecked in its waters.

Recently, this place has received the award, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, of “European Heritage”. This award is only shared by three more places in Spain.

Because of its history, its legend and its enormous value, this place should be a must visit for anyone who comes to Galicia.

Located on the north western corner in Spain, Galicia has a long coastline to the north and the the west. Almost 3000km in total.

This large coastline with its “Rias” has a lot of great beaches, most of them deserted making you the only one there. One beach that is famous among pilgrims walking to Finisterre is the Playa de Langosteira.

If you are spending a few days in Santiago de Compostela and would like to have a day by the ocean, you could take the bus to Finisterre and watch the sun set in the atlantic ocean by the Finisterre light house.  For bus schedules, have a look at (Finisterre is “Fisterra” in Galician, so use that as your destination).

The Langosteira beach, located next to Finisterre also offers some options for a relaxing afternoon. If you decide to stay the night in Finisterre, have a look here for some nice places to stay.

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