Saturday 7th June 2014
After the tour of the Santiago de Compostela Old Town and the Cathedral - the group decided to stop for dinner at a restaurant in the Old Town. This happened to be quite an expensive meal when compared to all the meals we had had from the start of our tour.
Saturday was a free and easy day in our itinerary. Otherwise there was an optional tour to Cape Finisterre - if translated is meant to be " the end of the world'. Most of us in the group chose to take this day tour.
Cape Finisterre ( Cabo Fisterra in Galician) is a rock-bound peninsula in Galicia said to be the westernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula.' Finnis Terrae' in Latin means 'end of the earth. In the olden days when the folks still beleived the world is flat this part is thought to be the end of the earth. Monte Facho is the mountain at this cape standing at 781 feet above sea level and a light-house is located atop of it.
Cape Finissterre is the final destination for many pilgrims of the Way of Saint James. It is a 90 km walk from Santiago de Compostela. The origin of this pilgrimage is beleived to have started even before the Christian time - probably associated with the belief that this is the edge of the world. The practice has been continued through the medieval times to the present day.
This area is also a sacred area from pe-Christian times. There was an "Altar Soli" where the Celts practised worship of the sun and its assorted rituals.
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