Cape Finisterre lighthouse - The end of the earth
by RicardMN Photography
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Cape Finisterre lighthouse - The end of the earth
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RicardMN Photography
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Description
The Cape Finisterre Lighthouse (Spanish: Faro de Cabo Finisterre) is an active lighthouse on Cape Finisterre, in the Province of A Coruña, on the northwestern coast of Galicia in Spain.
The lighthouse in Finisterre is the most western in Europe, and probably one of the most visited on the continent, because of this fact and also its link to the Camino de Santiago, as it is considered its final point.
On top of the lighthouse, built on 1853, and given the danger on these shores, visible from the sea from over 50 kilometers away, there are other interesting elements, specially two neighbouring buildings: the siren and the semaphore.
The siren started its work in 1889, with the goal of complementing the lighthouse on days of poor visibility, emitting a series of sounds that could be heard from over 40 kilometers away, gaining the epithet of "vaca de Fisterra".
And the semaphore, located on a small elevation immediately beside the lighthouse and built on 1879, which mission was to communicate, by optical means, between sea and land. As it occurs with others, such as that in Bares, today it has been rehabilitated as a hotel.
But before reaching the lighthouse, by road, one can reach the neighbouring Mirador de O Solpor, with magnificent views of the sea, the river and the Monte Pindo.
In Roman times it was believed to be the end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like that of Finistère in France, derives from the Latin finis terrae, meaning "end of the earth". It is sometimes said to be the westernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula. However, Cabo da Roca in Portugal is about 16.5 kilometres (10.3 mi) further west and thus the westernmost point of continental Europe. Even in Spain Cabo Touriñán is farther west.
Cape Finisterre is the final destination for many pilgrims on the Way of St. James, the pilgrimage to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Cape Finisterre is about a 90 km walk from Santiago de Compostela. It is a recent tradition for pilgrims to burn their clothes or boots at the end of their journey at Cape Finisterre. Some pilgrims continue on to Muxía, which is a day's walk away. (Description from Wikipedia and turismo.dacoruna.gal)
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June 21st, 2019
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