A Fonsagrada to O Cádavo (Baleira)
Galicia
- Distance
- 25.2 km
- Climb
- 530 m up, 770 m down
- Ground
- 580 to 1,020 m
- Time
- 6 to 8 hours
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Underfoot
- dirt, forest, mountain, paved
Where this day sits on the Camino Primitivo
Above, the highest and lowest ground of each of its 11 stages. Below, the word each day is given.
From open-pilgrimages: each stage's highest and lowest ground and its interior theme.
The day
Now you are walking in Galicia properly. The forest is wetter than Asturias, the green deeper, the silence more total. You pass through small hamlets where the slate roofs are darkened by centuries of damp and the cows graze at the edge of the road. Stone cruceiros (Galician wayside crosses) appear at every crossroads — they are the first sign you are in pilgrim country. By afternoon you descend into O Cádavo, a small town in the Baleira municipality with a single albergue and two bars. The Primitivo's quietest stretches are around here. Many pilgrims fall in love with this section precisely because there is so little to see except trees and weather.
What pilgrims often meet here
- First Galician cruceiro on the path — granite, weathered, sometimes covered in moss
- Slate-roofed villages where laundry hangs in the rain
- The taste of pulpo a feira (Galician octopus) for the first time
- A surprisingly contemplative day with little distraction
What does it feel like to walk through landscape that seems to want nothing from you?
The ground
The light
Sunrise and sunset in A Fonsagrada depend on the day you walk.
Walk it with Pilgrim
Pilgrim doesn't carry the Camino Primitivo as a route yet. You can still walk it with the app in Wander mode, speaking what arises and keeping it on your phone.