Stage Santiago de Compostela to Augapesada

The first stage of the Camino Finisterre sets out from the Praza do Obradoiro to, for once, turn its back on the cathedral and head westward. This initial section, a little over twelve kilometres to Augapesada, serves as a gentle introduction to a route that many pilgrims undertake with their legs already broken in after reaching Santiago. The profile is easy, with a single rise of any note and a long final descent, which allows one to enjoy the landscape without great demands.

After crossing the old town and leaving through the Sarela district, the Camino soon enters the countryside of A Coruña. It passes through the hamlets of Carballal, Quintáns and Roxos, among meadows, hórreos and stands of oaks, pines and eucalyptus. The terrain undulates gently up to the Alto do Vento, the highest point of the section, from where on clear days one bids farewell to the last views of the cathedral towers.

Once past the high point, the route faces a continuous descent that loses height decisively towards the bottom of the valley. The surface alternates tracks and traditional corredoiras, shaded by riverside vegetation as the murmur of the water draws near. The section ends at the Ponte de Augapesada, a bridge with a single segmental arch, of medieval origin on foundations that tradition traces back to Roman times, which crosses the Rego dos Pasos at the lowest point of the entire day.

Augapesada, a small hamlet in the municipality of Ames, thus marks the end of this first section. The place invites a pause beside the bridge and the trees before facing what lies ahead: the hard climb up the Alto do Mar de Ovellas, which gains more than two hundred metres of elevation in barely two kilometres on the way to Trasmonte, Ponte Maceira and, finally, Negreira. Whoever stops here will do so aware of facing the turning point of the stage.