Stage San Cosme de Barreiros - Fazouro

A 17.9-kilometre stage that leaves the coast to follow the old pilgrim way through the interior of Foz. It starts at the stone bridge of A Espiñeira over the river Masma, where the 15th-century chapel of the Virgen del Pilar presides over the old fair square. The path climbs to the church of Vilaronte, which keeps a 13th-century capital reused as a baptismal font, passes the hermitage of O Carmen and reaches the basilica of San Martiño de Mondoñedo, held to be the oldest cathedral in Spain, with mural paintings and a remarkable group of Romanesque sculpture. Two documented paths leave the basilica: a gentle one down to the centre of Foz, a fishing town with a harbour and beaches, and a steeper one by the chapel of San Gonzalo, the Bispo Santo. The stage ends at the old bridge of Fazouro, whose stone shows a pilgrim Saint James and a crucified Christ from the late 15th century. Fazouro has almost no accommodation, so walkers usually spend the night in Foz.