In the immediate vicinity of our cabins in the forest and winery, you will find the Pico Sacro. It is located in the parish of A Granxa, in the municipality of Boqueixón. With an exceptional viewpoint, it is an unmissable visit for those who are passionate about nature and history. It houses a hermitage, a cave and the remains of a fortress. In addition, there is a hiking trail, which culminates at the peak: the ascent from Lestedo. It is almost 13 km, the difficulty is moderate and the estimated time of the route is two and a half hours.
The Pico Sacro is not a high mountain, but it stands out in its surroundings and is visible from different locations. It is just over 500 meters high and is isolated from other mountains. It has been known since ancient times and is linked to numerous legends. The most important is the translation of the remains of the Apostle James. Initially, it was known as Monte Illicino, a term that the Galician historian Antonio López Ferreiro links to the Latin term ilex, holm oak.
The Pico Sacro and the Camino de Santiago
The link to the cult of St. James and the Camio is related to different issues. On the one hand, the Camino Sanabrés skirts the foot of the mountain, which stands out in several sections. In this way, the Pico Sacro, due to its isolation, became one of the first references of proximity to Santiago for walkers who arrived through the Via de la Plata or the Portuguese Way.
In addition, it is the first place where the towers of what is now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela can be seen, so many pilgrims went up to enjoy its views and the magical qualities attributed to the mountain.
On the other hand, the Sacred Peak is related to the legend of the Translatio of the remains of the Apostle Santiago, recorded in Book III of the Codex Calixtinus. According to the story, the disciples of the Apostle are urged by the lady Luparia (Lupa) or Queen Lupa to go to the mountain, then Mons Illicinus. There they would find oxen carrying the material from the tomb. In this text, the etymology of the name of the Peak is attributed to the Latin term Illiciens, seductive. He relates it to the fact that it was a place where many mortals ended up seduced by the devil and where pagan idol worship was practiced.
The queen did not inform the disciples that a dragon dwelt there. However, they overcame him with their prayers. When they saw that the mountain was full of demons, they also sprinkled holy water, so it became known as Mons Sacer, Sacred Mountain. And they also discovered that the oxen alluded to by Lupa were savage, which they miraculously tamed. Testimony of the fact is the chapel of Santiaguiño, in honor of the apostle Santiago. It is located about 2 km southeast of Pico Sacro. A seventeenth-century document places the meeting of the disciples and the dragon there. The temple itself, from the eighteenth century, has an allusive relief, very deteriorated, and a commemorative fountain.
Within its miraculous facet, the Sacred Peak was considered a place of healing. This issue is linked to the abundance of ergotism patients in Galicia. The disease is due to the ingestion of food contaminated with mycotoxins. In the past, cereals such as rye, oats, wheat or barley. It was known as “lume ardente” or “lume de San Antón”, that is, burning fire or fire of San Antón. The medicinal ritual of visiting the Pico Sacro for these and other sick people consisted of leaving a piece of bread and reciting the verse: “Pico Sagro, Pico Sagro, sáme deste mal que eu traio”.
Archaeological remains and a mysterious cave
The geostrategic location of Monte Sacro made it a surveillance enclave for the control of the communication routes that linked the coast and the interior. In this sense, a document from the 15th century gives an account of the construction of the fortress of Montesagro. You can see different recesses in the stones and a large cistern excavated in the rock. The construction is attributed to the Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, Alonso II de Fonseca.
However, there are vestiges of much earlier occupation, such as rock carvings and mámoas – prehistoric funerary monuments – in the vicinity of Pico Sacro. In addition, the room is documented from the 10th century. Bishop Sisnando ordered the construction of a Benedictine monastery and chapel dedicated to Saint Sebastian on its summit. The monastery was abandoned in the 12th century and the castle of Fonseca stood on its remains. The hermitage was maintained, restored on numerous occasions. Today it hosts a popular pilgrimage on January 20th.
One of the most striking aspects of the Pico Sacro for archaeologists and speleologists is a cave with several entrances, known as Burato dos Mouros – hole of the Moors in its translation into Spanish.
For a long time, it was thought to be an artificial construction, attributed to the search for gold by the Romans. However, the investigations of the Mauxo Speleologic Group indicated its natural origin. The cavity begins in the remains of the castle’s cistern and descends 300 meters in the form of a well. The researchers located a 30-meter chasm from the highest point. In the lowest there are only stones, which Jacobean tradition attributes to those used to kill the dragon or serpent Ilicinia, which protected the entrances to hell.
It is important to note that the tour of the cave is not possible without the appropriate speleological material.
The Legends of the Sacred Peak
The different legends are at the basis of the consideration of the Pico Sacro as a magical and sacred place. One of the reasons has to do with the geological composition of the massif, entirely made up of half-crystallized quartz, something uncommon in a Galicia where granitic stones and slate predominate. Added to this is the isolation of the mountain and the point-shaped configuration, which stands out against the deep bed of the Ulla River. The fact that the mountain looked different to the people around it led to properties such as dispersing storms.
On the other hand, in addition to the existence of the cave, the legends of Queen Lupa and the link to the Camino de Santiago, there were stories of Moors, giants, snakes and beasts.
The cleft of the Pico Sacro that allows you to appreciate the foundations of the fortress of Fonseca is called Rúa da Raíña. It is a narrow and deep passage, which is said to have been built to give access to the cave of the Sacred Peak. The place where it is located is also known as the Pazo da Raíña Lupa.
On the other hand, the Jacobean legend of the translation of the remains of the Apostle also appears in the History of Iesus Christo Santiago Zebedeo by Mauro Castellá Ferrer, from the seventeenth century, in which the Sacred Peak is also mentioned.