Saint Andrew of Teixido

“The dead should go to Saint Andrew of Teixido if they did not visit it while they were alive”. This clear popular local saying tells us that a pilgrimage to Saint Andrew of Teixido is something that everybody should do at least once in their lifetime. In Galicia or at least in the Northeast, it is as important to go to Saint Andrew as it is to go to Santiago. In the 1960s people still walked to San Andres, or at least the last part of the journey, because there was no vehicular access to the small village hanging on to the edge of the cliffs. Saint Andrew is a truly magical place, drinking from its fountain with three spouts is a well know fertility ritual, together with the picking of some stems of the Herb Of Love (Armeria Pubigera), which you should hide in your loved one’s pocket and it will make them fall head over heels in love with you.

The natural enclave of the Serra da Capelada (Capella mountain range) is spectacular. Not far from San Andrés we can find the Garita de Herbeira (the Herbeira Watchtower), (curious for its Stone construction and its domed roof). It is a watchtower located at the highest point of the mountain range at an altitude of 613 meters on a slope with an 80% gradient and on cliffs looking out into the Atlantic Ocean. These are the fourth highest cliffs in Europe and are comparable to the Scandinavian Fjords.

By the time we start on the last leg of our journey to Saint Andrew, we will have passed by Cedeira. It is a very beautiful village with a fantastic beach, it is also a good place to stop as you can eat very well here. From Cedeira we then take the coast road to cross the Capelada Mountains and on the other side of the range we will find Cariño. Cariño means affection (or little loved one) and it is impossible not to stop in a village with a name like this. It is a fishing village that is famous, as is the whole area, for its goose barnacles (percebes) and it has various beaches of unparalleled beauty such as the beach at Fornos or the one at Figueiras.