To Santo Domingo de la Calzada

We had an uneventful walk today with not a lot of interesting scenery, but we love Santo Domingo de la Calzada. It’s old town is very medieval and has quite the history.

The town takes its name after Saint Dominic (the name literally means Saint Dominic of the road) who dedicated his life to improving the conditions of pilgrims en route to Santiago in the Middle Ages, building pilgrim hospitals, roads, and bridges along The Way.

Santo Domingo de la Calzada is also famous for the so-called ‘miracle of the hen’, considered to be the most famous of the Middle Ages and the Camino de Santiago.

According to the legend, a German young man and his family were traveling as pilgrims to Santiago. On the way, they stopped in Santo Domingo de la Calzada for the night, where he rejected the advances of the inn keeper’s daughter. Upset with the rejection, the young woman hid a silver cup in the pilgrim’s bag, who would be later accused of theft and condemned to death.

On their return from Santiago de Compostela, his parents went back to Santo Domingo de la Calzada to give the final farewell to their son and found him still alive, thanks to the intervention of Saint Dominic who knew of the young man’s innocence.

Surprised by such a miracle, the parents went to the authorities to let them know. The Corregidor (sheriff) of Santo Domingo being skeptical replied that their son would be as alive as the roasted cockerel and hen he was going to eat that very moment. As he pronounced these words, the rooster and hen instantly got up on the plate, their white feathers grew back and they started to sing.

And ever since, it is said about the town: ‘Santo Domingo de la Calzada, where the hen sang after being roasted.”

In memory of this miracle, a rooster and chicken, with white feathers, are kept alive at the cathedral all year round. 🐓🙂

We had a great evening visiting with other pilgrims in one of the squares. 🙂Read more