Video: Cape Finisterre - End of the Earth in Medieval View
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
In the Middle Ages, people seriously believed that Earth flat. And to look at her edge, they walked across Europe to Cape Finisterre on the northwest coast of Spain. Pilgrims go there to this day.
Finisterre (Fisterra in local, Galician language) is not the westernmost point of mainland Europe. The Portuguese Cape Roca extends 18 kilometers further into the ocean. But since ancient times, this particular small peninsula was considered the End of the Earth, beyond which there is nothing - only the ocean, three elephants and a turtle.
Since the Celtic, pagan times, people from all over Europe came here to look at the border of the inhabited world. And during the Roman rule over the Iberian Peninsula, this cape was called Finisterra (a combination of the words finis and terrae, end of the earth).
With the Christianization of this region, the pilgrimage to the End of the World took on a new meaning. Just eighty kilometers from Finisterre is the city of Santiago de Compostela, "Christian Mecca", a center of pilgrimage for people from all over the world. About 200 thousand people annually come here on foot along the Way of St. James to venerate the relics of one of the twelve first disciples of Jesus Christ.
In the Middle Ages, however, the size of the pilgrimage to these regions was even larger. And a significant part of people, having reached Santiago, went further to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean to look at the End of the Earth.
This is happening now. At Cape Finisterre, near the lighthouse, there is a concrete post with the number 0, marking the zero kilometer of the Way of St. James.
Every evening, modern pilgrims who come that day to the nearby resort town of Finisterre gather here on the cape. Together they watch the sunset over the ocean and remember the weeks, if not months, of their pilgrimage. At the end of this ceremony, everyone burns their shoes or clothes on the stone slope of the End of the Earth, symbolically marking the end of their hard and long journey.
Recommended:
What secret has been hidden for 100 years by the famous painting: "The Lady in a Fur Cape"
For more than 100 years, this picture hid the secret of the true author of the canvas. Who painted the stunning $ 26 million painting from the Louvre? A hundred years later, art critics finally found the true author, but the second secret of the painting - the personality of the model - remains unknown to this day
Another Earth is flat, hollow and completely unimaginable: As science fiction writers, scientists and visionaries described the Earth
The Earth is a ball, the third planet from the Sun. It would seem that there is nothing to argue about. But there are dissenters to this day. And if these statements make scientists clutch their heads, then writers and screenwriters often serve as material for inspiration
Bird's-eye view of Earth by photographer Matjaz Cater
The land is beautiful from a bird's eye view. This is the opinion not only of parachutists and pilots, but also of photographer Matjaz Cater. He created a stunning collection of images that he took every time he rose from the ground into the air
Screenings of Russian cinema will be held in Cape Town for the 95th anniversary of Mosfilm
Mosfilm Film Studio turns 95 years old. In honor of such an important date, it was decided to hold Russian cinema days in Cape Town. This event started on May 3 and will end on May 16. Only nine films were selected for screening
Cape Town Black Minstrels: A Celebration of Black Culture
Another January festival takes place on the other side of the earth - in hot Africa. At the beginning of the year, thousands of musicians and entertainers travel to Cape Town to take part in the traditional minstrel convention. Some of these artists are black, many are white, and even more are those whose faces are hidden by a thick layer of makeup. Why paint your face under the scorching sun of South Africa, where is the height of summer now? Find out now