Camino Primitivo: Stage 8

If you have stayed the night in A Fonsagrada you will have to walk through Lugo’s road to get to San Xoán de Padrón, where you will find the local hostel. You will walk through a path, but then you will return to the road to cross it towards Fonte do Patizal, you will get to this place through a path to the left. You will walk through paths surrounded by typical Galician vegetation, and you will be combining asphalt with paths to get to Vilardogno, once you get to Pedrafitelas you will return to the LU-1906 and you will walk parallel to this road. During this route you will see the Serra do Hospital mountain pass and also the Serra de Montouto mountain pass, you will be walking towards this mountain pass. Once you leave this village you will have to turn left to get to Hospital de Montouto. This hospital was founded in the 14 century by King Peter of Castile also known as the Cruel. It was rebuilt under the regime of Charles II of Spain, the Bewitched, they built a chapel, an infirmary and also a garden. Near to the rests of this pilgrims hospital, we can also see a field of “mámoas”, millennial stones that have survived the pass of time honoring the decease people buried there. You are now in a peaceful place. You will continue through lovely paths surrounded by pine trees and also by the local vegetation. The next village on this stage is Paradavella, which has some establishments where you can stop and recover yourself. You will continue through the LU-630 to get to a path to the left and then leave this village. If it’s rainy this part of the stage will be a little bit complicated, in this case we recommend you continue through the hard shoulder until getting to A Calzada. hen you will have to cross the road to get to A Degolada and O Couto, first crossing an asphalted road and then walking through some paths.

You will go through Costa do Sapo towards A Lastra. This is one of the hardest parts in this stage because you will have to walk up. Once you get to the top you can rest for a while and then continue to A Fontaneira. Then you are going to leave again the road to go through a path to the left full of pine trees. Then you will get to A Fontaneira and you will see its church devoted to Santiago. There are just 5 kilometers left to get to your destination. You will go through Campo da Matanza that belongs to Baleira., This area is called this way due to a battle between Alfonso II “the Pure” troops and Muslim invaders. Recent excavations have proved this theory, after unearthing human rests and armors. then you will get to O Cádavo then end of today’s stage, here you will find a hostel and all the needed establishments.

Bear in mind

This is a hard stage so we recommend you to keep calm. The surface at some points makes the route difficult to walk, so we recommend you to take it easy and enjoy the landscape.