STAGE 7, 1 SEPTEMBER: MONTE DO GOZO-SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
Total distance: 4 kilometers.
GROUPS 1,2,3: COMPLETE STAGE
Starting point:
09:00 h Monte do Gozo (at the foot of the monument)
Meeting Point:
11:15 h Cathedral of Santiago: Puerta de la Inmaculada (Azabachería)
Today we will enter the Cathedral of Santiago. It is easy to imagine how the pilgrims arriving centuries ago felt, after a dangerous journey exposed to diseases, hunger and cold, vermin attacks or assaults on the roads. As we know from the Calixtino, the entrance to the Cathedral was done through the door which we are going to access today, that of the Paraíso (Paradise) (now Puerta de la Inmaculada or Azabachería), although practically all the Camino pilgrims continue to the Plaza del Obradoiro, without noticing its great symbolism.
Upon arriving, there were many rites to fulfil. Drinking in the Fountain of Paradise was one of them. Now disappeared, the fountain was built around 1122 by Archbishop Xelmírez so that the pilgrims had access to fresh water, a very expensive and difficult resource to obtain. It was also a medieval rite to burn clothes and shoes before the Cruz dos Farrapos (Cross of the Rags), made of bronze, that can be seen on the roofs of the Cathedral, the most beautiful and symbolic cross of the basilica. Surely, in its origin, the tradition of burning clothes had much to do with hygiene and the attempt to prevent the spread of diseases and parasites. The fact of being performed in front of the Cross also indicates a purifying intention: the pilgrim sheds his clothes and, by burning them, symbolically heals his soul before beginning a new life. Although today the clothes cannot be burned there, the feeling of renewal is maintained and many affirm that the true Camino begins when arriving, after the long process of learning and personal improvement that the Jacobean route means.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1st. MONTE DO GOZO – SANTIAGO
8:00 a. m. Pick up at hotels (with luggage for a hotel change)
Pazo Brandeso, Pazo Santa María
8:15 a. m. Departure to Monte do Gozo (from A Paínza). Pick up at Hotel Suiza
09:00 a. m. Start of Stage 7
11:15 a. m. Cathedral of Santiago. Meeting point: Puerta de la Azabachería or de la Inmaculada. Access to the Cathedral in group. Maximum punctuality is kindly requested.
12:00 m. Mass of the Pilgrim. Reading of Offering to the Apostle Santiago and Botafumeiro
1:15 p.m. Collection of the Compostela (Cathedral of Santiago)
2:00 p. m. Lunch. Hospedería San Martín Pinario (Plaza de la Inmaculada, 3). Reading of the Santiago Declaration
5:00 p. m. Group photo: Plaza del Obradoiro
5:30 p. m. Transfer to Hotel La Salle (from San Francisco). Free time
9:00 p. m. Farewell dinner. Hotel Monumento San Francisco (Campillo de San Francisco, 2)
11:00 a. m. Transfer to Hotel La Salle (from San Francisco).