Cathederal Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Santo Domingo de la Calzada is also famous for the so-called ‘miracle of the hanged innocent’, 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 cockerel and hen instantly got up on the plate, their white feathers grew back and they started to sing.Read more