Costa da Morte, Spain.

Hello hive friends,

I'm in the town of Muxia now in northwest Spain, in the Galicia region. Today, I took a lovely walk along the coast and climbed a beautiful rock with a fantastic view.

But that climb began at this little chapel and this burial place next to it. This little churs dated from the 17th century and is not as spectaculaire as his bigger brother next to the sea, but it fits nicely in the landscape.

Lovely see trough, trough the tower bells.

And these nice orniments on the roof with the view in the back. I love this kind of views. Lovely subject to take pictures of.

In the front, the little cemetery. I didn't take a full frontal picture of the graves. Doesn't feel good to do that for privacy reasons. The graves are stacked on top of each other. Of course, the rocks were this is build on, don't allow you to dig a grave in there. The Netherlands is a swamp, so every body is being buried.

The view from the top of the rock, next to the holy cross, was stunning. You can see the whole village from here.

At the end of the villages, next to the oacean, there is a big pilgrimage church called the Santuario de la Virgen de la Barca.

The church dates back to the 13th century, when the Romans built a chapel there. But after a devastating lightning strike in 1720, they built this church in its place in 1775. It is one of the most important religious and cultural attractions in the region. According to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared here in a stone boat to support the apostle James in his mission. This church attracts not only pilgrims of the Camino de Santiago but also visitors interested in the unique megalithic stones surrounding the church. The people of the villages traditionally believed that the rocks have healing powers. I walked over them and sat down for a while. I hope now that I will stay healthy for a long time. The onside of the church is very spacial. It has got a lot of miniatures of boats hanging in side.

It's a church like any other, I think.

But when I came to the back, I saw something different. You could walk past where the priests always stand and there they made a giftshop. That was crazy and I have never seen this before in a church.

It is also the office for the pilgrims route to Santiago de Compostella. You can get your stamp here if you start the trail.

Next to the church stands this lighthouse.

It was built in 1920 and plays a crucial role on this stretch of coast. The "Costa da Morte" is quite beautiful, but as the names already say, it can be very dangerous here. The Atlantic coast is still quite rough, as you can see.

You can imagine what it's like here in truly stormy weather. There's a beautiful panoramic view of the ocean.

And back in the harbour, where I am staying with my van this night.