What to see in Corcubión

Corcubion, land of calm and bravery

Cultural Heritage

Old Pilgrim's Hospital of Corcubión

St James’ Way

Proof of the existence of the Way from Santiago to Fisterra and Muxía was the fact of building hospitals to attend the travellers in this route, which made possible its continuity and also shows the attraction it had. There are many references made to this Way by pilgrims in past centuries, as it was the case of Jorge Grissaphan (Magyar knight of the 14th century who arrived to Fisterra), the German pilgrim Sebastian Ilsung, who arrived to Muxía in the middle of the 15th century, as well as the bohemian Leo de Rozmithal (1466), the German Dominican Felix Faber (1480) and the Polish Nikolaus von Popplau (end of the 15th century). Already in the XVI century the Venetian Bartolomeo Fontana arrived to Fisterra and in the XVII century the Bolognese clergyman Domenico Laffi also finished his trip in Fisterra.

It is therefore understandable that pilgrim hospitals were built in the places where this Way passed through. In the case of Corcubión, the pilgrims' hospital was located in the current house at number 16 in Avenida da Mariña, which is also one of the oldest houses still standing in Corcubión. It is documented that in 1431 the Counts of the Jurisdiction of Corcubión, Don Rodrigo de Moscoso and Doña Juana de Castro, founded a hospital in this building which served as a welcome centre to pilgrims, who were walking through Corcubion when visiting the Santo Cristo de Fisterra and Nosa Señora da Barca sanctuaries. The Counts assigned to it some incomes that at that time were enough for its maintenance.

Already in the early years of the 18th century, Don José Isla de la Torre stated in his Compendio del Estado de Altamira that the income of this hospital was insufficient, so much that the seamen's guild allocated the fifth of the sardine on several occasions to the support of this hospital (the fifth of the sardine was the donation made by the seamen of the amount they earned from fishing the sardine on the days of the Holy Spirit, Saint Peter and All Saints).

Later, in 1809, during the war against the French troops, the ground floor of this building was used as an ammunition dump. During the attack on Corcubión by Napoleon's troops on the 13th of April 1809, when the village was completely destroyed, this house was also burnt down. The incredible thing is that when people saw the house in flames, some of the town's sailors did not hesitate to enter and try to prevent everything from being blown up, taking out the burning wooden beams through the windows and finally managing to prevent all the ammunition from exploding and causing a greater misfortune than the situation that was already being experienced at that time.

The most curious thing is that the original walls of that house were whitewashed for maintenance and, fortunately, they have survived to the present day.